Honour for Deaf studies pioneer

A former senior lecturer has been honoured by the University of Wolverhampton for his pioneering work with the Deaf community.
 
Born profoundly Deaf, John Hay MBE is an extremely proactive and well-known member of the Deaf community and has undertaken many key roles and projects.
 
‌John’s roles have included Chairman and Trustee of the British Deaf History Society, Trustee of BID Services for Deaf People and Vice President of the Midlands Regional Association for the Deaf.
 
Originally from Edinburgh, John moved to Wolverhampton in 1998. He played a key role in the development of the subject area of Deaf Studies and was Senior Lecturer in Deaf Studies and British Sign Language/Interpreting for 15 years.
 
He has a string of awards to his name and was named Teacher of the Year by peers at the University of Wolverhampton in 2001.
 
Receiving his Honorary Fellowship from the Office of the Dean of Students at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre on Wednesday September 23, he said:
“I feel so honoured to have my voluntary activities within the Deaf community at local, regional, national and international level over so many years acknowledged by the university awarding me this prestigious Honorary Fellowship.”

After retiring in 2013, John worked as a BBC See Hear researcher, before a 10-month position as regional heritage officer with the BDA’s Film and Video Archive Project. Following a stint as external advisor for Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, John is currently external examiner for Bangor University’s course.
 
Noted for his great passion for Deaf history, John co-founded the British Deaf History Society and is former president of Deaf History International. For over 30 years, he has presented papers at conferences worldwide, in addition to broadcast work. He co-ordinated the second European Symposium on Deaf History (Edinburgh, 1996), and chaired the ninth Deaf History International Conference (2015).
 
In 2006, John was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship for a study tour on Deaf Museums and Archival Centres in Europe, the USA and Canada, and was presented with an MBE in 2008 for his services to higher education and the Deaf community.

ENDS.

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