Edward E. Corbett Jr., 1942–2012

Moores, D. F. (2013). Memorial editorial: Edward E. Corbett Jr., 1942–2012. American Annals of the Deaf, 157(5), 412.

It is a rare privilege to have had a personal and professional relationship of more than 50 years with a friend as special as Ed Corbett. We first met at Gallaudet when he was an undergraduate and I was a graduate student. Over the years, as we worked together in a variety of situations, sometimes stressful, our friendship grew and I came more and more to appreciate both his professional accomplishments and his unique sense of humor. His occasional e-mail jokes were always good for a laugh or a groan.

There are so many memories, and I want to share just a few. One time we cochaired an advisory committee for the restructuring of the Philadelphia School District’s program for the deaf. It was a time of great change, and of debate about curriculum, the feasibility of continuing to have a separate day school for the deaf in the city, and the role of sign in a program that had been oriented to oral-only instruction. Ed’s leadership and his ability to work with people of diverse views led to the incorporation of significant changes into the city program.

We both returned to Gallaudet in 1980, with Ed as Director of the National Academy, among other responsibilities. I had the opportunity to work with him at workshops, and it was always a delightful and educational experience. One occasion during that time stands out in my mind. Vasilis Kourbetis, a PhD student at Boston University, was organizing a national conference on education of the deaf in Greece and invited Ed, Jack Gannon, Bob Davila, and me from Gallaudet and Bob Hoffmeister from BU to give keynote addresses. At that time, education of the deaf in Greece was completely oral. Attendees at the conference had never met deaf professionals with advanced degrees, who had published books, and who had important administrative positions. Hearing parents of deaf children were especially captivated by the relaxed, easy ways in which Ed, Bob, and Jack communicated with deaf Greek children. They completely won over the convention, and the outcome was the introduction of sign into the Greek educational system.

The change in attitude among our hosts from before the conference to its completion was dramatic. I remember one pre-conference meeting with the planners and the American presenters where it was noted that Ed was not present and I responded that Ed and Mary Ann had decided to visit the Acropolis. One of the organizers expressed great concern and asked if it was safe to allow them to go by themselves. I laughed and said they did not need my permission; in fact, Ed had a better feel for the city than I did, and had given me directions on how to meet him at the Acropolis later. By the end of the conference, that paternalism had vanished.

Later, when Ed was Superintendent of the Ohio School for the Deaf, I supervised graduate students who were student-teaching at the school, and stayed with Ed and Mary Ann. We discussed education of the deaf, our mutual friends, politics, life—in other words, “the universe and other things.” He was one of the most consistently outgoing and positive people I have ever met, and could see the bright side of any situation.

Our longest and most productive professional partnership lasted from 1998 to 2010, when Ed was Chairperson of the American Annals of the Deaf Joint Administrative Committee and I was Editor. His activities as a classroom teacher, Assistant Superintendent of the Maryland School for the Deaf, Professor, Director of the National Academy, Superintendent of the Ohio School for the Deaf, and President of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf—among other experiences—provided him with rare knowledge and insight, and I am grateful for his support and understanding as we strove to improve the Annals and respond to its various constituencies.

Ed was a special person, with an unusual strength of character, and he will be sorely missed.

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