Preface

THIS BOOK OF MEMORIES and commentaries is dedicated to my parents, Juliette Ruth (née Kahn) and Harold Allen Hurwitz. They worked hard all their lives and made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that I was given opportunities to experience all the twists and turns that I might confront during my lifetime.

My mother showed me many articles about successful deaf adults and told me that if they could do it, then I could do it, too. She also introduced me to deaf adults who were leaders in the Deaf community. She and I always had interesting and intellectual discussions about anything and everything; she was truly ahead of the times as a woman. While most women of her generation stayed home as a homemaker, my mother always worked and, at the same time, managed to take care of the family and tend to our home. She also was the family bookkeeper and made decisions as the “head of the family.”

My father taught me a lot about sports, which led me to develop a passion for playing and watching sports. We also played many board and number games, and these instilled in me a love of math. My father taught me a great deal about the importance of a strong work ethic. He was always on time at work and never missed a day, even when he did not feel well. He was a very patient man who loved to tease people. He was not afraid to talk with hearing people; he would carry on conversations with them by writing notes on his notepad.

My retirement from Gallaudet University at the end of December 2015 marked the culmination of fifty-plus years in my professional life. Once we settled back in our home, my dear wife, Vicki, my family, and several close friends encouraged me to write a memoir of my personal and professional life. I was initially reluctant to write or even talk about myself. But then I became convinced that my story could inspire deaf and hard of hearing people and people with disabilities to aim for their highest goals. Bless Vicki—she kept encouraging me to start by making a long list of things I should include in the memoir. Within two months, I finally started to jot down some ideas, and the outline came out to thirty-five pages. It took me nearly nine months before I could sit down and begin to write the memoir because I struggled with how to translate the outline into a narrative. I ultimately decided to put it aside, and, with time, I started to record what I could recall from my early years, without thought to any structure.

As I pondered my journey through life, I want to give credit to my parents, especially my mother, who did not have much education but who, enthusiastically and passionately, encouraged me to aim for the best education possible to prepare myself for a successful personal and professional life. I begin my story with my family and early education, followed by my professional careers in engineering and higher education. I reveal the roads I have taken, the triumphs and defeats, and the lessons I learned that led me to the places where I have been. My ultimate goal is to offer insights for families and professionals that can inspire young deaf and hard of hearing people to achieve their dreams and goals and manage the trials and tribulations they will face in their lives.

When I was growing up and developing my professional skills, I had no idea I would arrive at the places where I have been. My ambition has always been to excel in whatever I aspired to do. I loved my work as an engineer and computer programmer. I enjoyed working with young people and inspiring them to do their best and reach their potential. Teaching and advising students was a passion, and I expected to continue in these roles for the duration of my professional life. I also cherished the times I spent in the Deaf community, especially in the various leadership roles I held in different organizations. I never dreamed, nor had the ambition, for progressive leadership roles in higher education or for becoming a university president.

The reader may note that many of the incidents I describe may appear disjointed and unrelated. I have done my best to flesh out scenes and characters so that readers may understand that these incidents were integral parts of my journey. I hope that the memoir reveals the events and experiences that affected my life and led me to what I accomplished. It includes both good and bad experiences, the challenges I faced, and the lessons learned from them. I desire to let the readers know what I was thinking, as well as why and how I made certain decisions in my administrative roles. I have attempted to talk briefly about certain people—family, friends, and colleagues—who played important roles in my life.

I believe Abraham Lincoln’s quote, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years,” sums up my experiences in building a foundation that allowed me to progress in leadership roles over my lifetime. It is my hope that my journey will inspire and show young deaf people how achievements can lead to unexpected accomplishments.

A Note about the Title

As you’ll read in this book, my journey to the Gallaudet presidency was a long and sometimes rocky one. Throughout everything, my beloved wife Vicki was at my side, supporting me and helping to make it happen while she pursued her own career. On the day we arrived at Gallaudet, I paused at the front gate and asked her if she really wanted to take this on or if we should turn around and drive back to Rochester, back to all our friends and our familiar routines. With her characteristic enthusiasm, she smiled at me, squeezed my hand, and said, “Let’s go in!”