The University of Haifa will confer the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) on Prof. Carol Padden, a leading communication scholar at the University of California San Diego. The nomination was initiated by Dr. Rivka Ribak and supported by the Department of Communication faculty members, Prof. Wendy Sandler and Dr. Irit Meir of the Sign Language Research Lab, and many other University faculty members. Prof. Padden has conducted path-breaking research on sign languages, their unique structure and evolution and their social implications. She has been awarded in the past a McArthur genius fellowship and a Guggenheim fellowship. She is currently the Dean of Social Sciences at UC San Diego.
The degree is awarded to her for her meaningful contribution to the study of sign language, to the understanding of deaf culture and to the study of human language and its development. It serves as a tribute to her personal accomplishments as a deaf woman in a hearing world, underscoring the importance of celebrating our differences as humans. It has also been given for her scientific collaboration with the researchers at the University of Haifa Sign Language Research Lab which has been instrumental in advancing the Faculty of the Humanities and the university in Israel and world-wide.