The founding director of RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Robert Frisina, has died at the age of 96.
Frisina was selected by the RIT Trustees as the first director of NTID in 1967.
At the time, less than 1 percent of all college-age deaf individuals were enrolled in college. Others held unskilled or semi-skilled jobs.
He stepped down as leader of NTID in 1976, but served as an RIT senior vice president for another 15 years.
NTID will hold a memorial service on campus at a later date.