Troy University News

March 31, 2004

Contact:
Tom Davis or Andy Ellis : (334) 670-3196; tomdavis@troy.edu

Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)

Dr. Morton to give keynote speech at annual Keller Lecture at Troy State University

   Dr. Joseph B. Morton, Interim State Superintendent of Education, has been chosen to deliver the ninth annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy State University on Tuesday, April 13.
   The lecture is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the Claudia Crosby Theater on the TSU campus. There is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend.
   The Keller lecture is designed to promote awareness of people who excel in their chosen fields despite physical limitations. The lecture is sponsored by Troy State University , the Alabama Departement of Education, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. Others who have presented the lecture include Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest; Heather Whitestone, the first Miss America with a disability; and former U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, a friend of the Keller family.
   This year’s theme focuses on the role of Anne Sullivan as Helen Keller’s teacher and on the difference teachers can make in the lives in their students. In addition to Dr. Morton’s lecture, students from the Department of Speech and Theatre will deliver a dramatic reading that focuses on the special relationship between Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller.
   Dr. Morton was selected by the Alabama State Board of Education to be the Interim State Superintendent of Education on Jan. 22. Prior to the appointment as Interim State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Morton served for eight years as Deputy State Superintendent of Education.
   Dr. Morton was previously Superintendent of Education of Sylacauga City Schools and of Sumter County Schools. Dr. Morton has a B.S. degree from Auburn University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Alabama.
   He was named the outstanding superintendent of education in Alabama by three different organizations, being selected by The Executive Educator magazine as one of the top 100 school executives in North America , founding the Sylacauga City Schools Foundation and being a member of the first classes of Leadership Sylacauga and Leadership Alabama.