Dan Mathis

Dan Mathis has been deaf all of his life, but has never let that stop his ambition to succeed. After graduating from HillcrestHigh School in Salt Lake City, Dan served an LDS American Sign Language mission to Philadelphia, New York City, and Indianapolis. Upon returning, Dan completed Bachelor of Arts degrees in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies from GallaudetUniversity, in Washington D.C.

Once graduating from Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts college in the world serving deaf and hard-of-hearing students, Dan accepted a full-time position with the University to research early language development in preschool-aged deaf children using the ASL and English language. While in the Washington D.C. area, Dan also taught ASL classes in higher education and worked with deaf children to improve their ASL skills.

The knowledge that Dan gained through his education and experience was precisely what was needed for a new program starting at the Davis Applied Technology College (DATC). The DATC hired Dan in 2006 to teach basic ASL and interpreting. Already, Dan has had much success teaching and has trained students to be interpreters for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in such areas as grade schools, colleges, hospitals, courts, and private companies. Currently, more than 400 skills interpreters are needed, and those qualified may be paid upwards of $25,000-$50,000.

Dan plans to continue making a difference by teaching at the Davis Applied Technology College