A Brief Biography of Clifford R. Rowley

Clifford R. Rowley was born in Mare Island, Vallejo, California in 1942.  Deafened at the age of one from influenza meningitis, he attended the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains from K-12.  He learned American Sign Language (ASL) there and has utilized it since then.  In 1965 he graduated from Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. with a major in Chemistry.  His professional experience is working for Lonza Group R&D in Annandale, New Jersey as a research chemist and engineer for the past 34 years.

Cliff met his wife, Nancy, now a Gallaudet graduate, when they were on the Gallaudet swim team.  Both competed at the World Games for the Deaf in Helsinki, Finland in 1961.  Cliff and Nancy wed in 1964 and have two children, John and Amy.  A special education landmark case, which involved their daughter, appeared before the United States Supreme Court in 1982, Board of Education vs. Rowley.  Two books pertaining to this court experience have been published:  Amy, The Story of a Deaf Child, by Lou Ann Walker, and A Case About Amy, by R. C. Smith.

Cliff’s strong leadership and volunteer work have been instrumental in establishing numerous programs.  Cliff became a key player in founding New Jersey Deaf Awareness Week, Inc.  He served as President and Chairman of Deaf Fest and is currently the Treasurer.  All Deaf Fests have been well attended, with thousands of people enjoying the free, all-day event, featuring exhibits, crafts and professional entertainers.  The mission is to increase cultural pride of the New Jersey Deaf and Hard of Hearing and heighten awareness of Deaf culture among the general public.  At New Jersey libraries, performances such as storytelling, mime, and shows are presented during the annual celebration of Deaf Awareness Week, which falls on the last full week of September.

In past years, Cliff has served as Vice President of the New Jersey Association of the Deaf, Inc. and as Coordinator of the Telecommunications Committee, where his work was important to the establishment of the New Jersey Relay Service in 1992.  He has been President of New York/New Jersey Phone-TTY, Inc. since 1981.  Nationally, Cliff served as President of Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. from 1977 to 1979.

Cliff is Secretary and a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York School for the Deaf.  He has served on the board since 1991 and has been Secretary since 1995.  One of his many successful projects was building a new library with full communication access, which opened in January 2000.

Hallmarks of his achievements are his seamless fluency in communicating with two languages – ASL and English – and his advocacy of increased public recognition for ASL.  In his honor, a gift of over 200 ASL videos was provided to the Morris County Library in January 2000 and named

The Clifford R. Rowley

American Sign Language Video Collection

which was funded by the Northwest Jersey Association of the Deaf, Inc. (NWJAD) and the Higgs Family Foundation.  The collection was prepared and delivered by ASL Access, a non-profit organization with a mission for placement of ASL media in libraries.

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