Gerald Adler
1913-1991
Gerald Adler was born on June 13, 1913 in (I will find out which town), Pa. He became deaf at the age of four due to spinal meningitis. He enrolled at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in 1918 and graduated in 1930.
Adler married Edna Paananen, also a graduate of Gallaudet University, Class of 1937. They had two children, a son who attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a daughter who became a teacher.
Adler received his Bachelor of Science degree from Gallaudet University in 1935 and Master of Arts in Special of Education from University of Michigan in 1966.
In 1936 Adler obtained his first job at real estate office as a land surveyor, title searcher, and land discretion technician. After working there for 22 years, the business dissolved. He continued his own small business that he opened in 1938. He operated an insurance agency in conjunction with his previous real estate employer. His business was sold in 1960.
In 1958, he became an employment counselor to the deaf with Michigan Employment Security Commission. Eight years later, he left to become a teacher at West Virginia School for the Deaf. A year later, he worked at the Maryland School for the Deaf.
After Adler received his Master of Arts degree, he joined the mathematics faculty at Gallaudet University.
His accomplishments included being a Treasurer and liaison officer between Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) and Kendall School for the Deaf, An Order of Golden Chain summer camp, 3 years.
Adler was actively involved with CAID, ICED, National Council of Teachers of Math and local meetings and other professional organizations.
Adler was a past president of the Alexandria-Potomac Lions Club, a Treasurer of Gallaudet University Alumni Association, and served as an officer in both National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Michigan Association of the Deaf.
Contributing: Reginald L. Boyd