President Ammons Presents at 2006 World Conference on Women and Sport in Kumamoto, Japan
"Participating in Change"
11 - 14 May 2006
Dr. Donalda Ammons
President, Deaflympics, USA
Dr. Ammons is currently employed as a full-time tenured professor of Spanish at Gallaudet University, the world’s only liberal arts university for the deaf in Washington, D.C. In addition, she currently serves as the first ever female President of Deaflympics, a quadrennial Olympic-equivalent event exclusively for Deaf athletes, under the auspices of the world’s oldest sports organization for the disabled- the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.
Dr. Donalda Ammons received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Philosophy with distinction from Gallaudet University in 1974. She obtained her Master's degree in Education with concentration in foreign languages from Western Maryland in 1977 and her Doctor of Education degree in 1988 from Nova Southeastern University in higher education, with area of concentration in foreign language education.
She became a faculty member of the department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in 1977, specializing in Spanish. In 1996, she was honored as the Gallaudet Distinguished Professor of the Year.
She also directed the Foreign Study Program, organizing travel aboard programs for Gallaudet undergraduate students in 17 countries and serving as a key resource person for faculty and agencies serving the deaf in other countries for international studies and projects. Dr. Ammons was lauded for facilitating, and leading Gallaudet's international programs on the behalf of Gallaudet students, academic community and the global deaf community.
Dr. Ammons is a contributing author of numerous articles on Deaf sports published in various journals and books and serves as field editor for PALAESTRA, a professional quarterly journal on sports for the disabled. She has traveled extensively to present papers and conduct workshops relating to language acquisition, human rights for deaf people, women in sports, and leadership in more than 50 countries.