Elizabeth “Libby” Pollard

Biography

Elizabeth “Libby” Pollard was born in Charleston, West Virginia to deaf parents and attended the West VirginiaSchool for the Deaf in Romney, West Virginia during her early years as a child. At the end of her third year at WVSD, her family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Libby was enrolled at the WesternPennsylvaniaSchool for the Deaf. After she graduated from WPSD in 1956, Libby attended GallaudetCollege (University) for three years.

During the 1960s, Libby became interested in computers and enrolled at the Electronics Computer Programming Institute in Cleveland, Ohio where she studied computer operating and programming for two years. Around the early 1970s and after holding a number of temporary jobs, she was hired by the Iron City Sash and Door Company in Pittsburgh as a keypunch/data entry operator. Her desire to advance in the computer profession, Libby decided to return to school to study advanced computer Programming at Computer Tech which was also in Pittsburgh. After graduating from Computer Tech, she was promoted to Junior Computer Programmer and later, Senior Programmer/Systems Analyst. In April 2002, after 30 years with IronCity, Libby retired.

Libby strongly believes in community service and has been involved with several local nonprofit organizations where she held various offices. She served as President of the local division of the National Fraternal Society for the Deaf, and was a member of the board of the WesternPennsylvaniaSchool for the Deaf Alumni Association, Gallaudet University Alumni Association and local women and mixed bowling leagues. Also, she was the first woman President of the Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf in the early 1980s and while she was a board member of the Eastern Deaf Women Bowling Association for several years, she served as the organization’s Vice President, Chair of Law Committee and later President.

In 1985, Libby became involved with Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf (PSAD) and for 12 years, she served on the Board of Managers. She would later serve as PSAD Secretary for six years before she being elected the organization’s first woman President in 1992 for five years.

Libby moved from the state to national level in 1994, when she was elected to the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Region I Board Member seat. Four years later, during the 1998 NAD Biennial Conference at San Antonio, Texas, she was elected President of NAD, becoming the third woman in the organization’s 120-year history to hold the presidency. Two years later, she was re-elected for another two years at the 2000 NAD Biennial Conference in Norfolk, Virginia. Libby completed her second term as NAD President at the 2002 NAD Biennial Conference in Washington, DC.

Libby is a member of American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP) and National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP). Since leaving NAD, she has served as parliamentarian for national, state and local organizations, and hosted many parliamentary and leadership workshops. On the personal side, Libby is a proud mother of 4 sons (2 deaf and 2 hearing), 15 grandchildren (3 deaf), and 6 great-grandchildren.

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