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Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field

The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field preserve, honor, and celebrate the tradition of excellence manifested by individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame for outstanding services to persons who are blind and visually impaired. Inductees are honored at a ceremony and exhibited in a special location at the American Printing House for the Blind.

Kay A. Ferrell accepts the Hall of Fame award. She is dressed in a blue suit and stands next to a gentleman with a white beard wearing a light-colored suit.

About

Members of the Hall of Fame make up a fascinating cross-section of heroes and pioneers who shaped our rich history, philosophy, knowledge and skills. These giants shared their personal lives and showed strategies to ensure services remain unique and specialized for people who are blind and low vision.

The establishment of the Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field was announced in Louisville, Kentucky, in October of 2001 at the 133rd Annual Meeting of Ex-Officio Trustees and friends of the American Printing House for the Blind. The Hall has gained support from across the field, including from AER, AFB, and CEC-DVI.

We welcome your contribution. Please donate to support the Hall of Fame.

Find the Hall of Fame on Facebook and YouTube. You may also contact the Hall of Fame by sending an email to halloffame@aph.org.

  • The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field is now accepting nominations for 2026 inductees. The nomination process will close April 30, 2026.

    What are the Criteria?

    A nominee has made transformative and sustained contributions to improve the lives of persons who are blind or visually impaired.

    Nominations should demonstrate how the individual has met the principal criterion through their contributions in at least one or two of the following criterion areas.

    Contributions to the Body of Knowledge

    • Curriculum development
    • Compelling oral and written presentations
    • Editorial service (editor-in-chief, associate editor, editorial board)
    • Preparation of new professionals
    • Preservice and in-service professional development
    • Program development
    • Published writing— expository, opinion, or practitioner research
    • Published writing—data-based scientific research

    Contributions through Leadership and/or Advocacy

    • Administrative planning
    • Advancement of the blindness community
    • Capacity building: Resource development
    • Capacity building: Revenue generation
    • Community organizing
    • Information dissemination (public)
    • Interagency collaboration
    • Parent and family organizing and advocacy
    • Public policy (federal, state, local)
    • Public relations/public image
    • Service in and through professional or consumer organizations
    • Staff and parent development
    • Systems change

    Contributions as Mentor or Role Model

    • Admired for one’s intellect, moral courage, and/or strength of convictions
    • Provided guidance, trustworthy advice, and support to consumers, professionals, or parents
    • Served as a change agent
    • Served as a model for others, through one’s behavior, example, or success
    • Served as a motivational role model for independence
    • Supported others to achieve their goals

    Contributions through Professional Practice

    • Assisting practitioners and/or administrators
    • Exemplary and transformative direct service
    • Impactful presentations
    • Innovative practices
    • Provision of education and/or specialized services to infants, children, adults, and older persons and their families
    • Sharing knowledge and experience
    • Visionary and strategic planning and implementation

    Innovative and Pioneering Contributions in the Field of Blindness and Visual Impairment

    • Access technology
    • Adaptive equipment
    • Educational methodologies
    • Pharmaceuticals and other medical interventions
    • Software development

    Exemplars with auto download to your computer

    Who is Eligible?

    • Persons are eligible five years after departure from positions where their significant lifetime body of work was made.
    • Individuals from North America, living or deceased, are eligible for nomination. (North America is defined as US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean).

    What is Required to Nominate Someone?

    To nominate an individual for consideration to be inducted into the Hall of Fame please submit the following to the Hall of Fame, Kim Zebehazy, Secretary, at kim.zebehazy@ubc.ca by the deadline. Please put 2026 Hall of Fame Nomination in the subject line of your submission and send all materials together.

    1. Cover letter that specifies the one or two criteria areas that best captures the nominee’s contributions to the field of blindness and visual impairment.
    2. Completed Nomination Form organized around the principal criterion. Click one of the links to auto download your format of choice to your computer:

    Fillable Word Nomination Form

    Fillable PDF Nomination Form

    1. A resume or curriculum vitae, if available.
    2. Two letters of support that concisely emphasize the criteria recommendations.

    How long do nominations remain active?

    • Nominations that are not selected are held and reconsidered the following year. Nominators are allowed to update and refresh the original nomination.
    • If not chosen in the second year, nominations must be resubmitted as a new nomination.
    • Although there is an annual call for nominations, inductions are not necessarily on an annual schedule.
    • Individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the International Conference of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Louisville, Kentucky, July 29-August 2, 2026.

     

     

  • A

    Georgie Lee Abel
    Edward Ellis Allen
    Lulu (Lou) Johnson Alonso
    Loyal Eugene Apple
    Samuel Ashcroft
    Robert Atkinson Carl Augusto
    Carl Augusto

    B

    Samuel Bacon
    Edwin Albert Baker
    Natalie Barraga
    Mary K. Bauman
    Donald Blasch
    Warren Bledsoe

    C

    Charles F.F. Campbell
    Sir Francis Joseph Campbell
    Thomas Carroll
    Michael Collins

    D

    Cleo Dolan

    E

    William H. English
    Jane Erin

    F

    Eleanor E. Faye
    Kay A. Ferrell
    Martha Louise Morrow Foxx
    Morris Frank
    Sir Charles Frederick Fraser

    G

    Kathern Gruber

    H

    William Allen Hadley
    Frank H. Hall Verna Hart facing camera and smiling
    Verna Hart
    Phil Hatlen
    Euclid Herie
    Everett “Butch” Hill
    Richard Hoover
    Samuel Gridley Howe
    Kathleen M. Huebner

    I

    Douglas Inkster
    Robert Irwin

    J

    Kenneth Jernigan
    Laurence C. Jones
    Randall T. Jose

    K

    Ruth Kaarlela
    Helen Keller
    Alan Koenig
    Roy Kumpe

    L

    Berthold Lowenfeld

    M

    Ann MacCuspie
    Sally Mangold
    Durward McDaniel
    M.C. Migel

    N

    Abraham Nemeth

    P

    Arnall Patz
    Newel Perry

    R

    Alice Raftary
    Louis Rives
    Sally Rogow

    S

    Peter Salmon
    Ambrose M. Shotwell
    Robert J. Smithdas
    Susan J. Spungin
    Anne Sullivan
    Stanley Suterko
    Mary Switzer

    T

    Josephine Taylor
    Tuck Tinsley
    Dean Tuttle

    V

    Louis Vieceli

    W

    William Bell Wait
    Donald Wedewer
    Richard Welsh
    Robert H. Whitstock
    Russell Williams
    James Max Woolly
    Berdell “Pete” Wurzburger

    Z

    Trischa Zorn-Hudson

  • Mike Bina, Chair
    Julie Hapeman, Vice Chair
    Kay Ferrell, Treasurer
    Kim Zebehazy, Secretary
    Bill Wiener, Past Chair

    Members-At-Large
    Bernadette Kappen
    Mary Nelle McLennan
    Mark Richert
    Lee Nasehi