"I cannot believe parents would keep their deaf or blind child at home to grow up in silence and darkness if they knew there was a good school in Talladega where they would be kindly and wisely treated." - Helen Keller
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB)'s 16th President is Dr. Terry Graham, a 30-plus-year veteran of the Institute. He previously served as Executive Director of AIDB's Office of Health, Evaluation and Outreach, now Health and Clinical Services, from 1992 to 2003. He came to AIDB in 1977 as Principal of the Helen Keller School of Alabama (HKS) and then in 1983 became director of the Institute’s statewide network of Regional Centers. He received his doctorate in Administration and Leadership from the University of Alabama, a Master’s degree in Special Education and a Bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Southern Mississippi. He began his professional career in 1971 as an itinerant teacher with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and then served as Coordinator of Mississippi Deaf-Blind Services.
Dr. Graham is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Alabama and Leadership North Talladega County, a member of the Board of Directors of the Talladega County Chapter of Alabama Easter Seal Society, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Talladega Chamber of Commerce. He served as Co-chair of the Talladega County Education Leadership Coalition and is a member of the Talladega Kiwanis Club.
Graham says his family and AIDB have been the most important things in his life. He and his wife, Pamela Graham, have two grown sons. In 2011, Mrs. Graham retired as director of AIDB's Low Vision Clinic with recognitions that included being named Southern Council of Optometrists Paraoptometric of the Year.
"We have made a commitment to AIDB and its students," said Dr. Graham. "We know what this organization means to the people we serve."