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NEWS RELEASE

National Center on Deafness Pioneer Wayne McIntire has Died

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Feb. 26, 2007) — Wayne McIntire, whose pioneering work in establishing services for deaf and hard of hearing students led to the creation of the National Center on Deafness at Cal State Northridge, has died.

McIntire died in Greer, S.C., at age 95.

"He was a visionary educator whose work continues to have significant ripple effects," said the center’s director Roslyn "Roz" Rosen.

McIntire was chair of the Department of Administration and Supervision of what was then San Fernando Valley State College when he was approached by Edgar Lowell, director of the John Tracy Clinic, a private, non-profit education center that provides support to families of children with hearing loss, to develop a leadership training program for the deaf. That was in 1960, when services for the deaf and hard of hearing were almost nonexistent.

McIntire, the father of a deaf daughter who was attending the clinic at the time, worked with education professor Ray L. Jones to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum in leadership and administration for deaf and hard of hearing students within the then school of education. Their effort was called the National Leadership Training Program (NLTP). The first class premiered in 1962. Two years later, the first students graduated from NLTP and from what later became California State University, Northridge.

Their pioneering work led to numerous innovative programs for the deaf and hard of hearing in community and continuing education, interpreter training and teacher training, as well as the implementation of the country’s first comprehensive mainstream services for deaf and hard of hearing students, what is now known as CSUN’s National Center on Deafness.

"My father was one of the giants in the world of the deaf and hard of hearing," said the daughter who inspired much of his work, Kathryn McIntire Sutton. "He understood the importance and the need for deaf people to get higher education and to become leaders in the deaf community."

The National Center on Deafness is at the international forefront in providing services to people who are deaf and have other disabilities. It serves as a model for institutions across the country and around the world on how to provide support to deaf and hard of hearing students to ensure that they have the tools to achieve their academic and career goals.

In the more than 40 years since McIntire established the foundation for the center, more than 600 NLTP and 2,000 deaf students have matriculated from Northridge.

McIntire is survived by his wife of 67 years, Edith; three daughters, Margaret Sanders of Greer, S.C., Kathryn Sutton of Torrance, Calif., and Marsha Jensen of Columbia, S.C.; 11 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one son, Wayne F. McIntire.

Funeral services are scheduled for March 3 in American Fork, Utah. In lieu of flowers, McIntire’s family has requested that contributions be made to the National Center on Deafness, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330-9267. Contributions can also be sent to the John Tracy Clinic, 806 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007-2505.