James J. DeCaro

Dr. James J. DeCaro (November 9, 1947 - October 23, 2019) was an American educator of the deaf and hard of hearing who served in a variety of roles during his 47-year career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, including Dean, Interim Director, Interim President, Founder and Director of PEN-International and the Center on Access Technology, and Professor and Dean Emeritus. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1902&context=sumagazine 
Dr. DeCaro earned a B.S and M.S. in Civil Engineering at the University at Buffalo (Buffalo, New York) in 1969-1970, and a Ph.D in Instructional Technology from Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York) in 1977. He also received an honorary professorship at Tianjin University of Technology (Tianjin, China) in 2001, and an honorary doctorate from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Moscow, Russia) in 2003.
==Professional Career==
Dr. DeCaro started his career at NTID in 1971 as an Instructional Development Specialist, the first faculty member in the Engineering Technologies Department. He subsequently held a number of progressively more responsible positions, including:
* Staff Chairperson, Construction Technologies Department (1 year)
* Acting Chairperson, Department of Business Careers (1 year)
* Curriculum Development Specialist, Special Programs (1 year)
* Director, Division of Career Opportunities (3 years)
* Dean (14 years) 
* Interim Director (1 year) 
* Senior Research Professor, Office of the President (19 years)
* Interim President (1 year)
 
From 1979-1980 he was a visiting faculty member and Rotary International Scholar at Newcastle University (Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England). From 1998-1999, he was a Fulbright Program Senior Scholar at Örebro University (Örebro, Sweden). 
Dr. DeCaro served as NTID Interim Director for one year, from 1995-1996, when Dr. William E. Castle stepped down from the Director position. He also served as NTID Interim President in 2010, after Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz left the institute to take up the position of President at Gallaudet University. He served for one year before current President Dr. Gerard J. Buckley was hired to fill the role. During this time, Dr. DeCaro spearheaded the campaign for and creation of Rosica Hall, NTID’s first dedicated research facility, which officially opened in 2013. 
In 2001, Dr. DeCaro founded the Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International) https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1902&context=sumagazine with the support of the Nippon Foundation of Japan. PEN-International was “a collaborative and cooperative network of colleges and universities around the world that provide(d) postsecondary education for students who are deaf or hard of hearing,” with the goal of improving said education “by sharing educational technology and conducting faculty development and training, particularly in developing countries.” PEN-International and it’s successor program P-CEN worked with partner organizations in China, the Czech Republic, Russia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Dr. DeCaro and his staff traveled extensively to these countries. The program celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2011, and has since been merged with NTID’s Department of International Education Outreach. 
Dr. DeCaro served on the Boards of Directors for multiple organizations, including but not limited to the Rochester Hearing & Speech Center, Highland Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Strong Partners Health System, the American Society for Deaf Children, the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association, and Discovering Deaf Worlds. Dr. DeCaro also served on RIT and NTID committees, such as the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, Policy Council Steering Committee, Student Hearing Board and Institute Hearing Board, Discipline Policies Committee, NTID Curriculum Committee, and the Institute Hearing and Appeals Board. Grants that DeCaro received include PEN-International, Project Inclusion, Project Access, Summit to Create a Cyber Community to Advance DHH in STEM, National Center on Deaf Health Research Subcontract, and Enrichment: Testing the Concept of Virtual Alliance for DHH STEM Students at the Postsecondary Level. 
==Honors and Awards==
*Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD) Leadership & Service Award - 2020 (awarded posthumously in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2022)
* Named scholarship: Center on Access Technology James J. DeCaro Outstanding Student Employee Award, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2019
* Cover of Deaf Life magazine (Rochester, New York) - 2019
* NTID Sponsored Programs: Founders Award, National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2018
* Named scholarship: Sasakawa-DeCaro Endowed Scholarship, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2012
* Innovation Hall of Fame, Inaugural Class, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2010
* Educator of the Year Award, Inaugural Class, Italian American Community Center (Rochester, New York) - 2010
* Professor and Dean Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2009 
* Four President’s Community Service Award, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) - 2008
* Foundation for Encouragement of Social Contribution (FESCO) Award, Nippon Foundation (Tokyo, Japan) - 2008
* Ambassador for Goodwill for Disabled People (Tianjin, China) - 2007
* James J. DeCaro Leadership Award, Inaugural Class, Rochester Hearing and Speech Center (Rochester, New York) - 2007
* De La Salle Brothers of the Philippine District Presidential Medallion, De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (Manila, the Philippines) - 2006
* Honorary Doctoral Degree, Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Moscow, Russia) - 2003
* HaiHe Award of Honor and Honorary Citizen (Tianjin, China) - 2003 
* Honorary Professor, Tianjin University of Technology (Tianjin, China) - 2001
* Fulbright Program Senior Scholar, Örebro University (Örebro, Sweden) - 1999
* Perkins Founders Award, Rochester School for the Deaf (Rochester, New York) - 1997
* Senior Fellow, The Rotary Foundation Educator of the Handicapped Scholar, Newcastle University (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom) - 1979-1980
 
==Personal==
Dr. DeCaro was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Italian-American parents. He has two sisters. He began his postsecondary education at Dutchess Community College (Poughkeepsie, New York), then transferred to the University at Buffalo (Buffalo, New York) to complete his B.S. and M.S degrees, and later completed a Ph.D. at Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York). He moved to Rochester, New York in 1971 when he began his career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology, interviewing with Dr. D. Robert Frisina, NTID’s founding director.
In late 1971, he met his wife, Patricia A. Mudgett, at NTID, who had begun her career there as an educator of the deaf in 1970, and whose parents were deaf educators at the Illinois School for the Deaf. They married in 1972, and have two children.
Dr. DeCaro’s Celebration of Life service & dinner reception was held on Sunday, November 24, 2019 at NTID in Panara Theatre & the Dyer Arts Center. The event was attended by approximately 450 people, and was livestreamed to others around the world. Dr. DeCaro is interred at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester).
==Videos==
NTID Historical Timeline
Dr. James J. DeCaro Retirement Video, 2018
Dr. James J. DeCaro Celebration of Life Service Livestream, 2019
Celebration of Life Photo Loop for Dyer Arts Center, 2019
SDEAS Says Goodbye to Mr. James DeCaro, 2019
Jim DeCaro accolades
Jim DeCaro - Various NTID Clips
Category:1947 births
Category:People from Poughkeepsie, New York 	
Category:American people
Category:University at Buffalo alumni
Category:Syracuse University alumni
Category:Educators
Category:2019 deaths