T. Alan Hurwitz
University Leader

California State University, Fresno

T. Alan Hurwitz became the tenth president of Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010, and has the distinction of being the first "born deaf" president in Gallaudet's history. Under legislation signed on April 8, 1864, by President Abraham Lincoln, Gallaudet became the first Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf to grant collegiate degrees.

Previously, Dr. Hurwitz served as president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Vice President and Dean of Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Hurwitz has been active in a variety of professional and deafness-related organizations and serves on a number of boards and organizations serving deaf persons, including the Rochester School for the Deaf and the National Captioning Institute. He is a former president of the National Association of the Deaf, and has traveled and lectured extensively nationally and internationally.

As a role model, Alan Hurwitz has had a great impact locally on the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people in our community. Not only has he visited the region and California State University, Fresno, he has made a lasting impression on the hundreds of neighbors who were filled with the hope and inspiration that he provides. For Fresno State students and faculty, he has offered a clear path to academic success and spent countless hours interacting with not only the community at large, but with Fresno State students, staff and faculty, during his visits. He has achieved success at a level seldom seen within the Deaf community, and holds a professional position recognized as the pinnacle of educational leadership in the world of deaf education.

In recognition of his achievements, his outstanding leadership, and enormous contributions locally, regionally and nationally and as a role model for the deaf and hard of hearing, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Fresno are proud to confer upon T. Alan Hurwitz the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.