Caroline Solomon was recently installed as the first woman president of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She will also serve as vice president of RIT and a faculty member with both NTID and RIT’s College of Science.
According to RIT’s website, NTID enrolls over 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students from around the world who live, study, and work alongside hearing students on the mainstream RIT campus.
With over 25 years of higher education experience, Dr. Solomon comes to her new role from Gallaudet University, a federally chartered higher education institution for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Washington, D.C. She joined Gallaudet in 2000 as a biology instructor and rose to the rank of professor in 2011. Prior to her new role, she was Gallaudet’s dean of faculty.
In addition to research in aquatic science, Dr. Solomon has dedicated her career to supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing students in STEM, including research on mentoring and the development of STEM sign language lexicons. She is also a past participant in the Deaflympics as a swimmer and was inducted into the Deaflympics Hall of Fame in 2020.
Reflecting on her appointment, Dr. Solomon stated, “It’s about every student who wonders if they can lead in spaces where they have never seen themselves reflected. Your voice—whether it’s signed, spoken, written, or felt—matters deeply. Your perspective is needed. And your future is limitless.”
Dr. Solomon is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science and public policy. She holds a master’s degree in biological oceanography from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of Maryland.