THE ALUMNI Andrew Ferguson L'00 Chandra Bhatnagar L'01 Cathy Carr L'79 Karen Peltz Strauss L'81 Langer & Grogan Paula Dow, L'80

Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) holds an award he received from Karen Peltz Strauss, L'81 for his efforts to increase access to telecommunications for people with disabilities. Strauss received the same award in 2000 from the Alliance for Public Technology.

When people gather in bars, restaurants and other public places and watch words scrawl across television screens, few would know that Karen Peltz Strauss, L'81 is behind the genesis of this technological marvel.

Strauss, the former FCC official who drafted the original legislation that led to closed captioning on all television shows, is among those unsung heroines who pioneered a movement that gave voice to society's voiceless. She and a small army of activists quietly battled under the radar for 20 years, finally winning recognition that the ability to communicate is not a privilege but a civil right.