NEW YORK (February 1, 2017)— In partnership with the Delta Gamma Foundation, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) announced the 12 recipients of the 2017 Delta Gamma Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship Award.
Each year, through generous support from the Delta Gamma Foundation, up to 12 graduate students receive free registration, a hotel room, and a stipend to cover the cost of attending the AFB Leadership Conference. Each award also provides an additional stipend toward the expenses for an accompanying faculty member to attend.
Participating in the Joint AFB Leadership and Virginia Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) Conference, which will take place March 2-4, 2017, in Arlington, Virginia, opens the door to networking and learning opportunities for young leaders in the field. Fellows will have the opportunity to choose their individual agenda at the conference, selecting from summits on education, transition and technology; sessions on leadership in the field, the intersection of autism and visual impairment and many more presentations and workshops that address the breadth of issues facing the blindness field.
Each fellow is currently enrolled in a graduate-level program ranging from graduate certificates to doctoral degrees that will prepare them for careers as teachers of the visually impaired, rehabilitation professionals or researchers and faculty members in university personnel preparation programs. Students were nominated by their professors for their high level of achievement in their course work, their commitment to research or the students they teach and their potential as future leaders in their chosen profession.
The following students have been selected and accepted the award:
Student
University
Accompanying Faculty
Allison Goldstein-Calderon
Hunter College, CUNY
Ellen Trief, Ed.D.
Christina Liebler
Virginia Consortium
Kim Avila, Ph.D.
Dmitry Neronov
San Francisco State University
Patricia Leader, M.A.
Genevieve Francoeur-Anderson
University of Northern Colorado
Silvia Correa-Torres, Ed.D.
Hilary Travers
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Deborah Hatton, Ph.D.
Jennifer Eaton
University of Pittsburgh
Tessa McCarthy, Ph.D.
Linda Hagood
Portland State University
Holly M. Lawson, Ph.D.
Mehmet Cihan
Texas Tech University
Rona Pogrund, Ph.D.
Mert Bilgin
Florida State University
Sarah Ivy, Ph.D.
Rachel Zahn
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mackenzie Savaiano, Ph.D.
Teertha Dhanya Emerson
University of Arizona
Sunggye Hong, Ph.D.
Tracie Quinn
Stephen F. Austin State University
Michael Munro, M.Ed.
For more information, follow this link to view short bios of each Fellow.
