Williams, Boyce Robert

Deafened by spinal meningitis at age 17; attended Racine High School, Racine, WI; went to the Wisconsin School for the Deaf for 1 year; B.A. from Gallaudet College (1932); M.A. (1940) from Columbia University. Teacher at Wisconsin and Indiana Schools for the Deaf; vocational principal at the Indiana School for the Deaf; vocational rehabilitation counselor for the State of Indiana. In 1945, went to work for the Rehabilitative Services Administration in the U.S. government; in 1970, became director of the federal Office on Deafness and Communicative Disorders until 1983 retirement; consultant to deaf and hard of hearing persons, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Vocational Rehabilitation Administration. Helped push for establishment of Captioned Films for the Deaf, the National Theatre of the Deaf, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, among others. First deaf member of the Gallaudet College Board of Trustees.