Robert Davila (born July 19, 1932) served as the ninth president ofGallaudet University,^[1][2] the world's onlyuniversity in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodatedeaf andhard of hearing students. His appointment came after the wake of theUnity for Gallaudet Movement protests of 2006,^[3] when many students, staff, and alumni objected to the initial choice ofJane Fernandes as the intended next president.^[4][5] It was originally intended that he serve only 18–24 months as an interim president, but the Board dropped the interim designation and then extended his contract to 36 months.

Robert Davila was born in southernCalifornia toMexican-American parents who worked in fields and orchards. At age eleven, he contracted spinalmeningitis and became deaf.^[6][7] When his mother learned about a school for the deaf in northern California, she sent him alone on a journey to the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley (which later moved toFremont).

Davila graduated from Gallaudet University, with a Bachelor's in Education in 1953. He then went toHunter College, graduating with a Master's inSpecial Education in 1963. To complete his education, he attended and graduated fromSyracuse University with aPh.D. inEducational Technology in 1972. He also has received honorary degrees from Gallaudet, RIT,Stonehill College, andHunter College.^[2][8]

Davila served as Assistant Secretary for theOffice of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services of the US Department of Education from 1989 to 1993 during the administration ofGeorge H. W. Bush.^[8][9] Educationally, Dr. Davila has experience teaching high school math, being an assistant principal, serving as a K-12 superintendent. He worked as professor, a college administrator and Vice President ofGallaudet University in the 1970s and '80s. He was headmaster of the New York School for the Deaf atWhite Plains 1993 to 1996 as well as CEO of theNational Technical Institute for the Deaf 1996 from 2006.^[8] On December 10, 2006, Davila was named the ninth President of Gallaudet,^[10] enacted at the start of 2007.^[2][10] He stepped down as president on December 31, 2009 and was succeeded byDr. T. Alan Hurwitz.

Davila, Robert R., Acceptance speech upon being selected President of Gallaudet University, 2006. (Download text of speech:http://saveourdeafschools.org/robert_davila_acceptance_speech_2006.pdf)Archived 2008-10-02 at theWayback Machine.

Davila, Robert. R., Interview on KCPW, Salt Lake City, Utah, expressing support for university students' right to protest, February 2007. (Download transcript of interview:http://saveourdeafschools.org/utah.pdf)Archived 2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine

Davila, Robert R., Installation speech as Gallaudet's Ninth President, 2007. (Download text of speech:http://saveourdeafschools.org/robert_davila_installation_speech_2007.pdf)Archived 2008-10-02 at theWayback Machine

Davila, Robert R., Address at Gallaudet's 140th Commencement, May 15, 2009. (Download text of speech:http://saveourdeafschools.org/robert_davila_commencement_address_2009.pdf)Archived 2012-01-11 at theWayback Machine

Davila, Robert R., Keynote Address at National Association of the Deaf convention in Denver, Colorado, 1992. (Download text of speech:http://saveourdeafschools.org/davila_keynote_NAD_denver_1992.pdf)Archived 2012-01-12 at theWayback Machine

Davila, Robert R., Plenary Address at PEPnet 2002: Biennial Conference on Postsecondary Education for Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. (Download text of speech:http://saveourdeafschools.org/robert_davila_2002.pdf)Archived 2012-01-12 at theWayback Machine

Davila, Robert R., Interview on Deaf Mosaic, 1989. (Link:https://ssl.gallaudet.edu/videolibrary/?embed=1695, beginning at 23:28.)

• Deaf Culture
• Deaf President Now (1988)

• Biographical information from NTID
• Davila Speaks at Convocation,Education Exchange (a publication of the School of Education, Syracuse University), Fall 2004, p. 13.Archived 2010-06-13 at theWayback Machine
• Smithsonian Institution,National Museum of the American Latino, Molina Family Latino Gallery inaugural exhibit:¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States (Case 4, "Shaping the Nation" exhibit), since June 2022.

• Living people
• 1932 births
• Educators of the deaf
• Rochester Institute of Technology faculty
• Rochester Institute of Technology administrators
• Gallaudet University alumni
• Presidents of Gallaudet University
• Hunter College alumni
• Syracuse University alumni
• United States Department of Education officials
• George H. W. Bush administration personnel
• American academics of Mexican descent

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