The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field nominations for 2026 inductees is closed.
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.
- 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.
- 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
- A resume or curriculum vitae, if available.
- 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.
