After earning a Masters of Social Work from Smith College, Debbie Stein took a job in community mental health on New York City’s Lower East Side. Later she traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, during which time she published her first young-adult novel, Belonging. While living in Mexico, Stein also helped found the…
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A historian of international conflict, Dr. Shore is the author of five books, including A Sense of the Enemy. Shore is Associate Professor of History at the Naval Postgraduate School and Senior Fellow at the Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He earned his doctorate in modern history at Oxford, performed postdoctoral…
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Dr. Sacks is recently retired from her post as Superintendent of the California School for the Blind. During her tenure, Dr. Sacks led a staff of 150 and promoted education excellence for students served on campus and through outreach programs throughout the state. Prior to her role as superintendent, Dr. Sacks was the Director…
Read More Dr. Sharon Zell SacksAn accomplished author, Roberts’ acclaimed work, about the intrepid blind traveler (and namesake of this prize) James Holman, “A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler,” was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award, long-listed for the international Guardian First Book Award, and named a Best…
Read More Jason RobertsDr. Mona Minkara is a computational chemist working in the Siepmann Group at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College, earning a dual degree in Chemistry and Middle Eastern Studies, and completed her Ph.D in chemistry at the University of Florida in 2015. For her dissertation, she…
Read More Dr. Mona MinkaraDr. Miller was born in Michigan, where he lived until the age of ten when his family moved to San Diego, California. He obtained a bachelor’s in political science, and a master’s in international relations and comparative governments from San Diego State University. He earned his doctorate in history from the University of Iowa,…
Read More Dr. Brian MillerDr. Joshua Miele is an alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his BA in Physics and his Ph.D. in Psychoacoustics. He is currently a Research Scientist at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center in San Francisco, where he has made major contributions to tactile map technology,…
Read More Dr. Joshua MieleJohn Heilbrunn, from Denmark, has held countless positions over the years in the field of accessibility. After receiving a degree in electro-acoustics from NYU, he went on to earn his law degree from the University of Copenhagen. Heilbrunn has since worked in various positions in the Danish government, including the Director of Labour Inspection…
Read More John HeilbrunnChancey Fleet, a Brooklyn-based accessibility advocate, coordinates technology education programs at the New York Public Library’s Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.
Before joining the NYPL staff, Chancey co-founded the branch’s volunteer-powered technology coaching service, which pairs novice users of accessible technology with confident mentors who use accessibility features every day. In 2016, Chancey…
An architect, planner and consultant living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris Downey is dedicated to creating more helpful and enriching environments for the blind and visually impaired. Whether working as a planning and programming team member or as a client representative, he draws on his unique perspective as a seasoned architect. His…
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