THE DEF BOARD
President – Prof. Ulrike Zeshan
Ulrike Zeshan is a sign language linguist with a PhD from the University of Cologne in Germany. She has conducted fieldwork on sign language varieties in South Asia and the Middle East, and has pioneered the systematic comparative study of sign language structures. She is the Director of the International Centre for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Her applied work focuses on creating curricula, training programs and teaching materials on sign languages in developing countries, and she has worked on resource development with university, government and NGO partners in India, Turkey, and Ghana. She is fluent in the Indian and Turkish Sign Languages and in International Sign.
General Secretary – Sibaji Panda
Sibaji Panda, the General Secretary of the Deaf Empowerment Foundation, was born in India into a hearing family with a deaf sibling. He became deaf post-lingually and graduated with a BA from the mainstream educational system. He began his career as a computer and English teacher for a deaf institute in Delhi. As the first sign language teacher at the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped in Mumbai, he then trained hearing interpreters and deaf sign language teachers and worked on the development of teaching materials. He received his Master’s degree in applied linguistics from the University of New England, Australia and is pursuing a PhD degree in sign language linguistics.
Treasurer – Waldemar Schwager
Waldemar Schwager, the Treasurer of the Deaf Empowerment Foundation, was born deaf into an all-deaf family and grew up with Sign Language as his native language in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, attending the local school for the deaf. After moving to Germany with his family, he studied German Sign Language (DGS) interpreting at a technical university in Magdeburg, from where he graduated with a specialization in sign language teaching and relay interpreting. As a member of the Sign Language Typology Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, he completed a Master’s degree in sign language linguistics at the University of Amsterdam, conducted fieldwork in Moscow and Jakarta, Indonesia, and is currently pursuing PhD studies in theoretical linguistics, focusing on morphological typology in sign languages.
Board member - Sam Lutalo-Kiingi
Sam is a Deaf sign language teacher and researcher from Uganda. He has worked for over a decade in the field of Ugandan Sign Language, including teaching the language to both Deaf instructors and hearing people under a programme run by the Uganda National Association of the Deaf. He has also taught people from Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda. Sam is currently doing a PhD in sign language linguistics, and is an expert member of the World Federation of the Deaf committee on sign languages.
DEF REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
Turkey - Hasan Dikyuva
Hasan Dikyuva was one of the first deaf to do research and development work on sign language in Turkey. He was project leader for World and EU funded sign language projects in Turkey and has previously served as General Secretary of the National Turkish Deaf Federation. Hasan coordinates DEF activities in Turkey and is co-author of the first-ever multimedia teaching materials for Turkish Sign Language, which were published by Ishara Press in 2008.
Pakistan - Hamid Zeshan
Hamid Zeshan coordinates DEF activities in Pakistan. After gaining experience in ESOL in the UK, he started teaching English literacy to deaf students and conducting teacher training and "deaf awareness" events in Karachi. He is working with the Pakistan Association of the Deaf on establishing a permanent partnership with DEF and setting up DEF's national contact point in Karachi.
