ratnanather

Our most sincere CONGRATULATIONS go Dr Tilak Ratnanather. Tilak has been a member of DELTA almost from the beginning.

On 27th March 2015, he was named by President Obama at the White House, Washington, D.C. as one of the newest recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). These mentors will receive their awards at a White House ceremony later this year.

The (draft) citation reads:

“Dr. Tilak Ratnanather has devoted himself to recruiting and mentoring an unprecedented number of deaf and hard-of-hearing (HOH) individuals in the United States and abroad into STEM fields. Dr. Ratnanather has a simple yet powerful objective for his mentoring programs: to provide opportunity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for deaf and HOH individuals who may not have otherwise been exposed to STEM, and to achieve this objective through extensive and involved networking, allowing his protégés to serve as mentors in turn. Dr. Ratnanather’s motivation to recruit and retain deaf and HOH individuals in STEM is built on the certainty that these individuals can contribute a unique perspective in STEM, specifically in auditory-related sciences and medicine.”

This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government for outstanding efforts in science, engineering, and mathematics mentoring.