Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards

This award honors individuals and organizations that support, create innovations, and advance the truth about blind people.

The 2024 Jacob Bolotin Award Winners: Deborah Kendrick, Donna Posont, Don Winiecki, Jonathan Mosen pose with members of the Bolotin Committee: Everette Bacon, Donald Porterfield, Jessica Beecham, Natalie Shaheen, and Mary Ellen Jernigan Dr. Jacob W. Bolotin (1888-1924) was the world’s first physician who was blind from birth. He achieved that goal despite the tremendous challenges faced by blind people in his time. Not only did he realize his own dream, but he also went on to support and inspire many others.

Winners of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards:

  • Break down barriers facing blind people in an innovative way
  • Change negative perceptions of blindness and blind people
  • Push past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights

Winners receive a cash award and have included entrepreneurs, volunteers, filmmakers, authors, mathematicians, technology developers, artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations, programs, partnerships, and more. The awards are presented annually at our national convention in July.

Literacy is my love, and if everyone else has access to literacy, then so should blind people. So I have made it my life’s work to make sure that we can teach people Braille in the best possible way, because one of the myths we always hear is Braille is hard, and that is not true.. — Casey Robertson, 2025 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Recipient

The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards are funded by the National Federation of the Blind with assistance from the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust, which was created by a bequest left to the Santa Barbara Foundation and the NFB by Dr. Jacob Bolotin’s niece-in-law, author Rosalind Perlman.

Application

The online application for the 2026 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards is open. Nominations and recommendations will be accepted until April 15, 2026, 11:59 p.m. eastern.

Past Award Recipients

Read about more recipients in past issues the Braille Monitor. Bolotin Award recipients are typically highlighted in the August-September issue every year.

More Information

Blue badge that reads "National Federation of the Blind Bolotin Award Winner."Everette Bacon, Chairman
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee
Cell: 801-631-8108
Email: [email protected]

Sponsored by the Alfred & Rosalind Perlman Trust. Presented by the National Federation of the Blind.