The following article about the Powrie V. Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University is taken from the Gallaudet Alumni Newsletter, vol. 20, No. 1, September 15, 1985:

Dr. Dr. Chair Recipient to Nurture a Dream

Gallaudet President Jerry C. Lee has awarded the 1985-86 Powrie V. Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies to Eugene (Gene) Petersen, a deaf writer and educator who has devoted much of his life to the development of rehabilitation services for deaf people in Indiana.

For more than 10 years Petersen has nurtured a dream: to write a book exploring the diverse circumstances, opinions, lifestyles, and feelings of average deaf Americans. His duties as director of programs for deaf people in the Crossroads Rehabilitation Center and Goodwill Industries in Indianapolis, as president of the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (ADARA) and as associate editor of The Deaf American left Petersen with too little time to pursue this dream in earnest. Insufficient financial and technical resources also stood in the way.

Now the door is open for the dream to become reality. He and his wife, Inez, are now living on campus, and Petersen has begun writing the book. He expects to call it Deaf America, 1985.

It will be a story told largely through interviews interspersed with narrative discussions of themes of special interest to deaf Americans in recent years. He hopes to include a diverse assortment of deaf Americans from every region of the country, representing both sexes, every race, and a wide range of occupations and lifestyles.

Click on the link for more information about the Powrie V. Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, and a list of people who have been appointed to the Doctor Chair.

Gail Hyde
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