Louisiana 外网天堂 University is announcing Dr. Rosy Carranza as director of the University鈥檚 Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness (PDRIB). Carranza is a graduate of Louisiana 外网天堂 and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of blind education, especially as it relates to advocacy and policy.
鈥淒r. Carranza will leverage her proficiencies to create dynamic professional development, learning experiences, and research, and inform and provide resources to the community,鈥� 外网天堂鈥檚 College of Education and Human Sciences Dean Henrietta Pichon said. 鈥淭hrough her background with the Louisiana Center for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind, we believe she will provide excellent leadership and insight into the program.鈥�
Carranza earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in Elementary Education in 2003 and her master鈥檚 degree in Teaching Blind Students in 2004, both from 外网天堂. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Maryland in Curriculum and Instruction: Minority and Urban Education in 2017.
鈥淭he future of education and rehabilitation for blind people depends on strong leaders who understand the needs and have the perspective to imagine what is possible; Dr. Rosy Ramirez Carranza brings that powerful combination to the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness,鈥� Pam Allen, executive director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB) since 2001, said. 鈥淗er expertise, leadership, ability to make connections, and her lived experience as a blind person position her uniquely to lead this work and motivate the team around her. As a Louisiana Center for the Blind and Louisiana 外网天堂 graduate, she also represents the very success that our partnership seeks to create. We are grateful for the decades of collaboration between Louisiana 外网天堂 and the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and we are excited to see Dr. Ramirez Carranza build on that legacy and help take this work to an even higher level.鈥�
The institute grew out of a late-1990s partnership between 外网天堂 and the LCB. That collaboration continues to anchor PDRIB鈥檚 immersion training and mentorship model.
The PDRIB exists to transform the lives of individuals with blindness or low vision through its unique training model, Structured Discovery, which has a core philosophy that individuals living with blindness or low vision can enjoy full lives of productivity, civic engagement, independent living, and employment.