Orlando, Florida (July 10, 2015): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) today presented $50,000 in cash awards to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality. At the National Federation of the Blind annual convention in Orlando, the eighth annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards honored five innovators who are helping blind people live the lives they want.

A $5,000 award was presented to Professor Nicolaas tenBroek, a computer science instructor at Heartland Community College in Illinois and grandson of Jacobus tenBroek, the founder of the National Federation of the Blind, for his creation of a course to teach computer science students how to design accessible mobile apps. A $5,000 prize was also presented to the United States Association of Blind Athletes for its creation of a state-of-the art training center for blind goalball players so that they can prepare for participation in the 2016 Paralympics and beyond. A $10,000 prize was jointly awarded to the University of California, Davis and the Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics for their collaboration on an accessible computerized system for creating 3D tactile models of molecules and molecular interactions. A $10,000 award was also presented to Seedlings Braille Books for Blind Children for its outstanding work producing Braille and print-Braille books for blind children of all ages. A cash prize of $20,000 went to the Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired (SAAVI) for partnering with the organized blind to improve rehabilitation services for blind Arizonans.

Dr. Jacob Bolotin, the namesake of the award program, was a blind physician who lived and practiced in Chicago from 1912 until his untimely death at age thirty-six in 1924. Dr. Bolotin was especially recognized for treating diseases of the heart and lungs. Despite his rigorous schedule tending to his patients’ needs at all hours of the day and night, Dr. Bolotin also became known as a public speaker and advocate for the employment of the blind and their full integration into society.

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a pioneer who overcame low expectations and discrimination to become a renowned member of the medical profession without the benefit of the support services and civil rights protections available to blind people today. The National Federation of the Blind is proud to honor the memory and spirit of Dr. Bolotin by recognizing and financially supporting those individuals and organizations, both from within the blindness field and outside of it, who are doing exceptional work to help achieve the shared dream of Dr. Bolotin and the National Federation of the Blind—a society in which the blind, like all other Americans, can pursue their goals and live the lives they want.”

The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards Program is funded through the generosity of Dr. Bolotin’s nephew and niece, Alfred and Rosalind Perlman. The late Mrs. Perlman established the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust to endow the awards. Income from the trust is distributed to the National Federation of the Blind and the Santa Barbara Foundation for the purpose of administering the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards Program. Mrs. Perlman also wrote The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story. For more information about the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards Program—including more information about this year’s winners, as well as eligibility criteria and application procedures—visit www.nfb.org.