Board Members
- Mary Sue Welch
- Gail Dalrymple
- Paula Margeson
- Mary Rhodes
- Phil Hatlen
- Billy Brookshire
- Betty Huffman
- Margarine Beaman
- Jonathan Schrauer
- Sherry Lowry
Mary Sue Welch
Mary Sue Welch was born in Huntsville, Texas. She attended The Texas School for the Blind in Austin from 1st through 12th grade. After graduation from high school, she attended business school and began working for The Internal Revenue Service as a clerk typist. After 3 years, She transferred to The Social Security Administration where she worked as a telephone receptionist, a service representative, and a Claims Representative. She was named Social Security's Outstanding National Disabled employee of the year in 1983. Mary Sue remained with Social Security until her early retirement at the end of 1997. In September of 1993, Mary Sue was appointed by Governor Ann Richards to serve on The Board of Trustees of The Texas School For The Blind and Visually Impaired and was re-appointed by Governor Rick Perry in August of 2001. She currently serves on The Personnel Committee for the school and is past President of the Board of Trustees.
Gail Dalrymple
As the mother of a visually and auditorially impaired son, Gail Dalrymple first became interested in special needs education. Her son has attended TSBVI for many years, and has thrived and gained confidence and self esteem from his participation in the theatre productions at the school. Though working with her son and other children with disabilities, she has learned how beneficial the special opportunities and programs such as those fostered by ABC of Texas have been for these children. Gail works as an attorney in the products liability section of Clark, Thomas & Winters law firm in Austin, Texas.
Paula Margeson
Paula Margeson has worked in the Disability Rights movement for twenty-seven years and is committed to the principle of equality for all people. As a person, who is totally blind and the mother and grandmother of individuals with visual impairments, as well as, a consultant in the disability field, she has both a personal and a professional interest in improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
Ms. Margeson was a program director at a center for independent living for eleven years and is well aware of the many challenges organizations which serve the disability community face. She has been writing grants and reports for such organizations since 1982. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University at Fullerton.
Ms. Margeson routinely conducts disability awareness presentations at elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, community groups, and public and private agencies. She presents workshops on various topics such as grant writing, the independent living movement, and community integration. She has participated in numerous documentaries and instructional videos. Currently, Ms. Margeson is the chair of the Texas State Independent Living Council, a governor appointed board that assists the state with disability program planning. In her spare time, she directs a disability ministry at her church, is a veracious reader, and loves to cook.
Mary Rhodes
Ms. Rhodes attended Nixon-Clay Business College and in 1969 started working for the University of Texas as an assistance to the elderly. She retired in 1999, but after retirement went back to work part-time at the University. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, but most of all spending all her free time with her two beautiful grandchildren. "If I were ask what my greatest accomplishment, it would be raising my son to be a strong, caring and honest person."
Phil Hatlen
Phil Hatlen received his undergraduate and Master's degrees at San Francisco State University (SFSU), majoring in elementary education and special education, with an emphasis in the education of students with visual impairments. He subsequently earned a doctorate in education at the University of California, Berkeley.
In the mid-1950s Dr. Hatlen began his career as a teacher of students with visual impairments who were included in regular classrooms. He served as principal of the California School for the Blind from 1962 until 1966. At that time he accepted a position as professor at SFSU. During his twenty-four year tenure at this university, which hosts one of the leading personnel preparation programs in the U. S., he prepared students and orientation and mobility instructors for work with blind and visually impaired students. In 1990 he left SFSU to become Superintendent at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He retired in 2007.
Dr. Hatlen has been active in several professional organizations. He has served as president of the Division on Visual Impairments of the Council for Exceptional Children; and as president of the Association for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (AEVH) during the last two years this organization was in existence. He was very active in the formation of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). Dr. Hatlen founded the Living Skills Center for the Visually Impaired, and he has also served as Executive Director of the Blind Babies Foundation. He has served as co-chair of the National Agenda, and is immediate past-president of the Council of Schools for the Blind.
During his career he has been actively involved in guiding legislation and setting policy which is beneficial to blind and visually impaired individuals. He has written extensively on curriculum for students with visual impairments and on education placement issues.
His awards include: Division 17, AER, awarded Dr. Hatlen the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Award in 1994. In 1997 Dr. Hatlen was the recipient of the prestigious Migel Medal by the American Foundation for the Blind. In 2000, the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired awarded Dr. Hatlen the Mary K. Bauman Award, its highest award for an educator.
Billy Brookshire
Billy T. Brookshire has over thirty years experience in rehabilitation and training. He has presented workshops throughout the United States on Self Esteem, Body Expression, Stress Management, Assertiveness, Team Building, Time Management, Giving Feedback, Dealing with Change, Dealing with Difficult People, Letting Go, Professionalism, and a variety of other topics. He is a Past-President of Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and by profession, Senior Blindness Training and Development Specialist for the Texas Division for Blind Services. He is also the award-winning author of the book, "Loving Me: A Guide for Creating and Presenting Workshops on Self-esteem". His awards include Virgil Zickel Award for Excellence In Product Development, APH , October, 2003; Aubrey Boyd Tipps Memorial Award, Texas AER, April, 1999; Sammy K. Rankin Outstanding Member Award, Texas AER, April, 1995; Distinguished Service Award In Rehabilitation, South Central AER, June, 1993; Arkansas Traveler, May, 1991; Admiral, Texas Navy, December, 1986
Betty Huffman
Ms. Huffman graduated from TSB in May, 1968, and from UT in 1972 with a Bachelors degree in history. She began working for the Department of Public Welfare in October, 1972 as a social worker, left there in December, 1978 and was a VR counselor with TCB until June 1985 when she was hired to be TCB's Coordinator of Consumer Affairs. She worked there until October, 1988 when she went to Advocacy, Inc. as a rehabilitation specialist. She returned to TCB as a VR counselor until March, 2005 when she retired. "I love dogs, cats, being with friends, eating (too much), and more."