A faculty member at William Woods University recently became the only nationally Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) in Missouri.
Jessica Brown is an assistant professor of American Sign Language at WWU. She has been an ASL faculty member for five years, according to a release from WWU.
Brown recently passed the national CDI exam. She became one of only 219 CDIs across the country, as well as the only CDI anywhere in the state.
According to the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc., someone who has a CDI certification "are deaf or hard of hearing and have demonstrated knowledge and understanding of interpreting, deafness, the Deaf community, and Deaf culture."
In a release, Brown said becoming a CDI has been one of her goals for over 15 years.
"It has been a long, arduous and hard-earned road, and I am relieved to have accomplished the goals I set back in 2005, when I was a student at William Woods," Brown said in a release.
Some of the courses she teaches at William Woods include ASL 1-6, Deaf culture and ASL linguistics.
Brown graduated from WWU in 2010. She received her Master's in sign language education from Gallaudet University in 2015, and received her Missouri CDI certification in 2018, according to a release.