Dick Maxwell Award Nomination Statement
Nominee: Dr. Mark Foster
Nominators: The Interpreting Team
Dr. Foster has worked with a student who is deaf that is registered with our office in
various capacities since August of 2014. Dr. Foster is currently her lab advisor in her pursuit of
a PhD in Biochemistry. As a lab advisor, Dr. Foster has begun to learn sign language to better
communicate with the student directly. Dr. Foster leads by example. He shows the students in his
lab the importance of inclusion and communication when working together. During their weekly
lab meetings, Dr. Foster provides time for the deaf student to teach an “ASL minute”, a mini sign
language lesson using vocabulary that will be used working in their lab. As a lab advisor, Dr.
Foster is always willing to accommodate the needs of the interpreters and transcribers with the
aim of providing the best access for the student. He regularly asks the interpreters questions
about the interpreting process to ensure that he is being culturally sensitive, and to learn as much
about the communication process as possible in order to more readily manage it. This is a level
of engagement we rarely see.
Before the deaf student joined his lab for a temporary rotation, he met with her and
discussed the communication norms that should be established so she could be a full participant
in the lab. On one of the first days she was in his lab, Dr. Foster found himself in the position of
needing to run a lab meeting without time to secure interpreters. He respected that limitation and
asked everyone in their group to log on to an online platform remotely where they could type
their comments in real time rather than sitting around a table and using spoken English which
would exclude the deaf student. He conducted the entire meeting without the use of spoken
English to ensure equal access.
Dr. Foster communicates daily with the student using the signs he has learned. He has taken an
interest in recruiting other students who are deaf from across the country to join his lab. With
so many machines running in the labs, the noisy environment makes for an ideal setting for sign
language to be used because you can communicate across the room despite the noise level. The
fact that he took his time to demonstrate such respect to the deaf student is commendable and
sets a wonderful example for the other lab members. He is truly encouraging an atmosphere of
full access for all lab members both temporary and permanent, despite how this has required him
to devote significant time and attention to the communication process. For these reasons he is
this year’s recipient of the Dick Maxwell award.