William Schmidt ’52

(Written by Ron Curtis, Class of 1955, who is also blind)

William Schmidt, a student from the California School for the Blind, was on Tech’s wrestling team. He went on to SF State after missing going to the Olympics by one wrestling match. He taught in Temple City, California for several years, even teaching college level classes in the “new math” when it first came out. He became the first totally blind person to become a principal of a public school and then went on to become the first totally blind person in the nation to become the head of a school district in Bishop, California. Schmidt was another blind student to benefit from Tech’s wonderful and accepting educational system.