Mary K. Bauman
Inducted 2002
Mary K. Bauman (1911-1991) was born in Pennsylvania. She received a B.S. and M.S., both in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
During World War II Mary Bauman developed a set of manual dexterity tests for blind persons. As director of psychometric work at Philadelphia’s Trainee Acceptance Center, an organization which guided applicants for defense work into the training programs and industrial jobs they were best suited for, she discovered that no usable instrument existed that could test blind persons for manual dexterity or mechanical skills. She proceeded to develop her own adaptations of the performance tests used with sighted persons. These were the first of many contributions she made to the development of non-verbal psychological evaluation instruments for blind or visually impaired people. Her increasing interest in the subject led her to establish a psychological testing and vocational guidance service for blind persons and she was Director of the Personnel Research Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1964 Mary Bauman began a long affiliation with AAWB as board member; chair of the committees on projects, membership and regionalization; member of awards committee and member of the editorial board. She was president of AAWB from 1977 until 1979. In addition to her responsibilities with AAWB, in 1968 she became executive secretary of the Association for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (AEVH), a position which she held for about ten years. Because of her involvement in both organizations, she was a strong promoter and supporter of the movement to merge the education and rehabilitation associations to form AER.
For many years Mary Bauman served as consultant to agencies and schools for the blind in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia. Her research and writing of numerous books and articles in the professional literature centered on evaluation of blind persons, nature of employment, effects of blindness, social competency and other psychological characteristics of blind or visually impaired people. She wrote the chapters "Research on Psychological Factors Associated with Blindness" and "Special Problems in the Psychological Evaluation of Blind Persons" in Hardy and Cull’s Social and Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, and co-authored with Yoder, Placing the Blind and Visually Handicapped in Professional Occupations.
Mary Bauman was honored with several awards for her outstanding contribution to the profession. She was the 2nd Recipient of the Douglas C. MacFarland Award from AAWB in 1981. The first Mary K. Bauman Award from AEVH was given to the one for whom the award was named in 1982. She was the recipient of the Presidents Award from Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind. On two different occasions, she received the Mary E. Switzer Award from the National Rehabilitation Association.
Video
2002 Induction Ceremony:
Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field is a project of the entire field of blindness. It is curated by the American Printing House for the Blind, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.
