Sign Language Projects Advisory Council
Leaders in the Deaf Community | Linguistics | Ethics | Sign Language Annotation | Sign Language Technology | Anthropologists
Dr. Julie Hochgesang, Ph.D.
Julie Hochgesang, Ph.D., is an associate professor of linguistics at Gallaudet University. She is a Deaf linguist who works on documentation of signed languages and ethics of working with signed language communities, making linguistics accessible to them. Hochgesang has contributed to ongoing efforts to create accessible collections for the ASL communities, such as Sign Language Annotation and the Archiving and Sharing project. This led to the creation of ASL Signbank, a publicly accessible website of signs linked to ID glosses to be used for annotation of ASL video datasets.
Dr. Julie Hochgesang, Ph.D.
Manny Johnson
Manny Johnson is a private business consultant to a number of companies and organizations. He has an extensive history of working with accessible technology companies that enhance the experiences of individuals who are Deaf. Johnson earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a focus in marketing from the California State University, Northridge. With AI technology advancements accelerating at an exponential rate, he is excited to find solutions to narrow the communication gap between sign language and spoken language users.
Manny Johnson
Melissa Malzkuhn, MFA
Melissa Malzkuhn, M.F.A., is the founder and director of Motion Light Lab, leading their creative research and development at Gallaudet University. Motion Light Lab is part of the Gallaudet-National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center on Visual Language Visual Learning Center (VL2). She is a co-founder of: CREST Network (Cultivating Research & Equity in Sign-related Technology), which focuses on the equity and inclusion of Deaf people in the development of sign language technology; the ASL app to teach conversational American Sign Language; and the “Hu: To sign is human” campaign to raise awareness of early sign language acquisition for young Deaf children.
Melissa Malzkuhn, MFA
Dr. Russell S. Rosen, Ph.D.
Russell S. Rosen, Ph.D., is the coordinator of the Program in American Sign Language and Program in Disability Studies at the City University of New York College of Staten Island. Rosen’s publications and research interests are in the anthropology and history of Deaf people and their community and culture, and applied linguistics of ASL.
He has served on the editorial board of several academic journals and as the president of boards of several schools for the Deaf. Rosen earned a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago and a doctorate degree in education from Columbia University.