Superintendent of deaf school receives honor

From: The Argus, CA - 08 Dec 2002

Gallaudet University
By Rob Dennis , STAFF WRITER
FREMONT -- California School for the Deaf Superintendent Hank Klopping will receive an honorary doctorate degree from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., at the school's next commencement.

Klopping was selected by the university's board from among several candidates submitted by the honorary degree committee.

"He revitalized the California School for the Deaf and has continued to keep its program innovative ... based on his staunch conviction that deaf children achieve given the best education and the right tools to learn," according to a statement released by Gallaudet.

Klopping isn't deaf, but he knows sign language and is a CODA -- child of deaf adults.

The superintendent at the Fremont school for 27 years, Klopping also is a charter member of the National Mission Advisory Panel for the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center.

He has worked with the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf, the Commission on Education of the Deaf, the Association for Education of the Deaf and the National Project on Career Education.

"I am honored and appreciative to receive this recognition from Gallaudet University," Klopping wrote in an e-mail. "I know full well that I am receiving this recognition because of the outstanding work of the staff at (the school). The dedication and energy with which our staff serve deaf students has brought this recognition to me and our school."

Klopping will receive the degree during Gallaudet's 134th commencement ceremony on May 16, 2003, along with ABC news veteran Sam Donaldson, who will be the graduation speaker.

Gallaudet is the only university in the world where programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

It began as an elementary school in 1857 under President Edward Miner Gallaudet, whose father founded the first U.S. school for deaf children.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the charter to add the collegiate division.

The university, which had only eight students when it opened, now serves more than 2,000 and offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

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