Illustration: Ray Kurzweil Honored at his Alma Mater, MIT

Ray Kurzweil, renowned inventor, futurist, and longtime advocate for accessible technology and supporter of the National Federation of the Blind, received the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Robert A. Muh Alumni Award from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. In his lecture upon receiving this prestigious award for MIT alumni, “Reinventing Intelligence,” Kurzweil reflected on his optimism about artificial intelligence and human progress. Shown here with Anil Lewis, Executive Director for Blindness initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind, Dr. Kurzweil pioneered groundbreaking reading and language-recognition technologies that have empowered blind and low-vision people worldwide. The first was the Kurzweil Reading Machine, which was created in collaboration with the Federation, and other collaborative projects followed. Today, the reading technology is available on multiple mainstream devices as well as products specifically designed for the blind. Anil shared that Dr. Kurzweil views these accomplishments with characteristic humility, “openly and humbly expressing his appreciation for being part of this transformative journey with blind people.” We congratulate our friend Dr. Kurzweil for this prestigious recognition of his many outstanding achievements.