White House Announces Appointment of Blind Attorney From Utah to Access Board

    SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The White House
 recently announced the appointment by President Bush of Ron Gardner to
 serve on the Access Board. The Access Board is an independent federal
 agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. Ron Gardner,
 of Bountiful, Utah, will serve his term during the remainder of the Bush
 administration and will continue into the first two years of the new
 administration.
 
 
 
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050120/PHTH039LOGO )
 
 
 
     Gardner, blind since birth, graduated from law school at Brigham Young
 University in 1978. He currently serves as director of field services for
 the National Federation of the Blind, the nation's oldest and largest
 organization of blind people, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. In that
 capacity he provides training to state agencies on rehabilitation issues
 and advises charitable organizations on the legal requirements to maintain
 their tax-exempt status. In 2002 he was appointed director of the
 Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness in the
 graduate school at Louisiana Tech University. From 1995 to 2002 he served
 as legal director of Utah's Disability Law Center. From 1978 to 1995 he
 served as a senior trial attorney for the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal
 Revenue Service and Special Assistant United States Attorney for the
 district of Utah. He also taught business law as an adjunct professor for
 Brigham Young University for fourteen years.
 
 
 
     Mr. Gardner volunteers as president of the National Federation of the
 Blind of Utah, which is the local affiliate of the National Federation of
 the Blind. He lives and promotes the positive philosophy of blindness
 espoused by that organization. "I believe blind individuals should take
 personal responsibility for acquiring the skills necessary to compete as a
 blind person in today's world. Disabled people must not assume that the
 world owes them a living; rather, they should obtain the education and
 skills necessary to facilitate meaningful participation in the affairs of
 home and community," Gardner said. "As I serve on the Access Board, I look
 forward to the challenge of combining a philosophy of personal
 responsibility with supporting the legal requirements to promote access for
 people with disabilities."
 
 
 
     Mr. Gardner also volunteers as chair of the Advisory Council for the
 Utah Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and as a
 member of the Institutional Council for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and
 the Blind. Gardner has represented and advocated on behalf of individuals
 with disabilities and coordinated community and statewide efforts to
 increase the opportunities for employment and access to services that
 benefit the lives of people with disabilities. He particularly enjoys his
 work with the Utah Organization of Parents of Blind Children to promote the
 use of Braille. Other volunteer service includes Utah State Bar Needs of
 the Elderly Committee; Statewide Rehabilitation Council for the Utah State
 Office of Rehabilitation; Advisory Committee on Disability Issues for
 Senator Orrin Hatch; Board of Directors for the Utah Industries for the
 Blind; Committee on Accessible Transportation, Utah Transit Authority;
 Governor's Task Force on Needs Assessment for the Handicapped; and
 Curriculum Advisory Committee for the Visually Impaired for the Church of
 Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has worked with the Lieutenant
 Governor to identify and test electronic voting equipment, which is
 accessible to blind and visually impaired voters.
 
 
 
     Gardner has been recognized for his legal and volunteer service on
 behalf of people with disabilities. He was named "Honored Alumnus of the
 Year" by the law school at Brigham Young University and "Utah Handicapped
 Citizen of the Year" by the Governor's Office.
 
 
 
     "With his political background, legal experience, and common sense
 approach to accessibility for the blind and other disability populations, I
 can't think of a better individual for such an appointment," says Cheralyn
 Braithwaite Creer, first vice president of the National Federation of the
 Blind of Utah. "As a blind person myself and as a mother of a blind child,
 I know that Ron will represent the needs of individuals with disabilities
 and the state of Utah very well. The positive philosophy of blindness from
 the National Federation of the Blind provides hope and encouragement to
 blind people and to parents of blind children across our state."
 
 
 
     The Access Board operates with about thirty staff members, a governing
 board of representatives from federal departments, and public members
 appointed by the president. For more information about the Access Board,
 visit the Web site at http://www.access-board.gov. For more information
 about the National Federation of the Blind, visit the Web site at
 http://www.nfb.org.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE National Federation of the Blind of Utah