Memorial Service for Gary Sanderson

CSUN Family & Friends,

We announce with deep sorrow that Gary Sanderson, 57, passed away on May 12, 2011. Gary was respected and loved by so many. Gary practically grew up at CSUN, having been around campus while his dad, Dr. Robert (Sandie) Sanderson was a student in the National Leadership Training Program. Gary attended CSUN as a student, and later worked at CSUN as an interpreter and outreach coordinator. He served as an interim director of the CSUN National Center on Deafness for 2 years. His career at CSUN, on the behalf of the Deaf and ASL Users community, spanned 38 years. He retired from CSUN two years ago, due to health complications.

CSUN was the first university nationally to provide professional interpreter services for Deaf and hard of hearing college students. Gary was one of the early interpreters, whom other interpreters tried to emulate and whom students got to know and admire, over the decades. Gary is well known and loved by the community as an interpreter extraordinaire as well as an exemplary interpreter trainer, who excelled at entertaining the audiences while educating them with his wry stories and styles. Off campus, he was known nationally and internationally as "Mr. CSUN." His services were always in demand everywhere.

Gary has received awards and recognition from national organizations such as the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf, the National Association of the Deaf, and others.

The family has asked that cards be sent to them in care of his life partner, Norman DeGroot at 1547 Murray Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90026.

The memorial service for Gary will be Saturday afternoon, 1 – 4:30 pm, August 27, in the Northridge Center, USU, at CSUN. Updates will be shared on the NCOD website.

Gary's everlasting contributions and his years of loving dedication to the Deaf and ASL Users community and to the education of deaf and hard of hearing students and interpreters will be deeply missed.

Roz Rosen, Director

National Center on Deafness (NCOD)

In Remembrance of Gary R. Sanderson

We are very sad to announce that Gary Sanderson has passed away. Gary has been essential to the development of the Sign Language interpreting field. His contributions have been amazing and I know that he will be missed greatly. I personally know interpreters who were inspired and influenced by the great achievements that Gary Sanderson accomplished during his lifetime. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones. Thank you Gary for contributing so much to the community, both Deaf and hearing. Below is a quick bio that I was able to find of Gary Sanderson.

Peace and love,

Gilberto Partida



Gary R. Sanderson

Gary R. Sanderson works at California State University, Northridge in the
National Center on Deafness as the Administrative Staff Interpreter. He is the
former Associate Director of the Western Region Outreach Center & Consortia,
a federal contract that served postsecondary institutions in 16 western states. He
served three terms as the President of the Southern California Chapter of the
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. He has served on the national Registry of
Interpreters for the Deaf Board of Directors as the Region Five Representative.
He has written articles, speaks nationally, and appeared in videos on Repetitive
Motion Injuries and Educational Interpreting, and was instrumental in the
establishment of the Special Interest Group in RID for Educational Interpreters
(EdITOR) serving as its first chair. Editor awarded Gary its Outstanding Service
to the Organization and to the Profession Award in 1991.

He has co-authored two papers on issues of power, language, and gender in
interpretation with Dr. Marina McIntire. In 1998 he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Award for a lifetime of service to the field of
interpretation by Region V of RID. He is the co-chair of the NAD-RID
National Council on Interpreting which is implementing the new national
interpreter certification exam for sign language interpreters. In 1999 he was
awarded one of the first Judie Husted Awards for dedication and commitment to
the field of sign language interpretation by RID. In 2003 he was awarded the
RID President’s Award for service to the field of Interpreting.