Dr. Robert G. Sanderson's
​Honoring Ceremony

Compiled & Written by Jodi Becker Kinner
Edited by Bronwyn O’Hara & Valerie G. Kinney

​Published in 2014
​Updated in 2023
While Marilyn T. Call, hard of hearing, was the director of the Utah Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she felt the history would not be complete without telling how the Utah Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing became the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She has long believed that the center should be named after a Deaf person because the center would not exist without the tireless advocacy of Deaf people (Call, UAD Bulletin, September 2003; Sanderson, 2004).

At the Utah State Board of Education, Marilyn Call highlighted why Dr. Sanderson was chosen to represent Utah's Deaf leaders (Call, UAD Bulletin, September 2003). The State Board fully endorsed the community center's renaming (Call, UAD Bulletin, September 2003). Dr. Robert G. Sanderson, a leader in the Utah Deaf community, was honored with a large renaming ceremony on October 4, 2003.
Picture
Dr. Robert G. Sanderson. The UAD Bulletin, Winter 1965
Robert G. Sanderson, known as "Bob" or "Sandie," was born in Nevada on February 20, 1920. At the age of 11, he became deaf from spinal meningitis. After struggling in a public school where he had previously enrolled before losing his hearing, he was sent to the Utah School for the Deaf in Ogden, Utah, where he graduated in 1936. Upon graduation, he went to Gallaudet College in Washington, DC, where he obtained a Bachelor's degree with an emphasis in English in 1941. In 1965, Sanderson earned a Master's degree at California State University, Northridge in Educational Administration. In 1974, he earned a Doctor of Education degree from Brigham Young University. He was the first Deaf person in Utah and the only USD graduate to earn a doctorate.
A list of Sanderson's notable achievements and contributions can be seen below.
  • Sanderson worked as an assistant assayer in Pioche, Nevada, from 1941 to 1942. Then, he worked as a chemist and technician for the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Boulder City, Nevada, from 1942 to 1947. ​In 1947, Sanderson worked as a draftsman for the Weber County Recorder’s Office in Ogden, Utah.

  • Sanderson served as president of the Utah Association of the Deaf from 1960 to 1963. After the passing of Rodney W. Walker, president emeritus, the designation was passed on to Sanderson. He served in this position until his death in 2012.​
Picture
Robert G. Sanderson, 1936
  • Sanderson served as president of the National Association of the Deaf from 1964 to 1968, as he challenged the incumbent, Byron C. Burnes, who had served 18 years. "President emeritus" was bestowed upon him at the 1968 NAD Conference, where he served for 44 years. Under Sanderson's leadership, the NAD headquarters were moved from Berkeley, California, to Washington, D.C. in 1965.

  • Sanderson served as the first state coordinator of services to deaf people through the Division of Rehabilitation Services from 1965 to 1985. He pioneered job training and job placement for deaf adults in Utah. He was the first deaf professional hired by the Utah State Board of Education for this coordinator position. In 1983, Dr. Sanderson was appointed the first director of the Utah Community Center for the Deaf.
​
  • Sanderson was a member of the Gallaudet College Board of Fellows, an advisory board, from its 1970 inception until 1982. From 1982 to 1994, he was on the Gallaudet Board of Trustees, retiring as trustee emeritus. ​​
Picture
Bob Sanderson, 1941
  • Sanderson was an adjunct assistant professor, teaching American Sign Language and the sociology, psychology, and cultural aspects of deafness at the University of Utah in the Department of Communication Disorders from 1978 to 1985. 

  • Sanderson was selected as professor of the Powrie Vaux Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University from 1981 to 1982. 

  • Sanderson was an adjunct instructor at Utah State University in the Department of Communicative Disorders from 1985 to 1986. 

  • Sanderson retired from his professional career in 1985. Nonetheless, he served on the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Institutional Council, an advisory board. He advocated for the Utah Deaf Relay System, the Utah Deaf Mentor Project, and the Utah State Interpreter Certification Board. After his retirement, Dr. Sanderson continued teaching sign language at local high schools.​
Picture
Dr. Robert G. Sanderson.
  • Sanderson was an adjunct assistant professor, teaching American Sign Language and the sociology, psychology, and cultural aspects of deafness at the University of Utah in the Department of Communication Disorders from 1978 to 1985. 

  • Sanderson was selected as professor of the Powrie Vaux Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University from 1981 to 1982. 
 
  • During the 1988 Gallaudet Deaf President Now Protest, Dr. Sanderson, a Gallaudet trustee, fully supported hiring a Deaf person.
 
  • On October 4, 2003, the Utah Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Taylorsville, Utah, was renamed the "Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing" in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the Deaf community. In March 2004, Dr. Sanderson published A Brief History of the Origins of the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
 
  • During the graduation ceremony at Gallaudet University on May 14, 2010, the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees awarded Bob an honorary doctorate degree for his outstanding leadership for sixty years.
 
  • Sanderson became an adjunct instructor for the Department of Health, Recreation, and Leisure at the University of Utah. Lastly, he was an adjunct instructor for the Division of Continuing Education at Weber State University.
​National Association of the Deaf President Bobbie Beth Scoggins said of Sandie's passing on February 25, 2012, "...'‘Sandie’ Sanderson was a true giant who….shared his passion for hard work, volunteerism, and dedication to the betterment of our lives. …we thank the state of Utah for allowing us to share in his legacy of tireless advocacy on behalf of the American deaf and hard of hearing community.”
Picture
Sandie Sanderson
BIOGRAPHY 
​More information can be found in Dr. Robert G. Sanderson's biography.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS 
Picture
Dr. Robert G. Sanderson, 1968
A Slideshow of Dr. Sanderson's Honoring Ceremony, October 4, 2003
Photos taken by Sanderson Community Center staff