Mark Feder of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., is the owner/controller of B.E. Atlas Company, a family-owned wholesale hardware distributor that sells to more than 2,500 independent retailers, plumbers and electrical and construction contractors in the Chicago area. While working for B.E. Atlas Company, Feder launched the National Catalog House of the Deaf (NCHD), which sold assistive devices such as visual signalers, closed-captioned decoders, TTYs, smoke alarms to Chicago's deaf and hard-of-hearing community. NCHD grew to be a nationally recognized TTY distributor, and Feder received a top sales award from National Captioning Institute. Based on the experience gained in running NCHD for 15 years, Feder presents to deaf entrepreneurs on establishing their own businesses.  
 
As a student, Feder gained leadership experience as a member of NTID's Student Congress. Today he applies what he learned to enhancing the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Chicago. He established the NTID Alumni Chapter of Chicago's strong foundation and was a past advisor to the Chicago Area Interpreter Referral Service. Currently he is assistant chair of the 11th Biennial Deaf Seniors of America Conference, which will be held in Chicago, August 31-September 6, 2011. Reflecting on his experience at RIT more than three decades ago, Feder says, “[graduating from] RIT was a great milestone in my life, and thinking back, it's clear that my time at NTID contributed in many ways toward my becoming a successful leader. I grew up in a mainstream/oral educational environment, and benefitted from the opportunities that NTID offered me such as leadership skills development, a quality education with dedicated teachers, support services, interpreting and meeting and working with hearing students. I gained knowledge that impacted my life in so many ways. I remember meeting with Dr. D. Robert Frisina, director of NTID, and he told me how important NTID was as a 'fishbowl' and how joining organizational activities would benefit me. My involvement with the NTID Student Congress during my college years gave me many rich experiences working among deaf and hearing students. NTID also encouraged me to have confidence in following my path, and provided guidance throughout my college years and job career. It also gave me the opportunity to interact with the local community and helped me secure a better future for myself and my family.” Feder earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from RIT's Saunders College of Business. He is married to Beverly (Taylor) Feder, SVP '71, BS '75, and enjoys spending time with his grown children, Rosanne, Tami and Kevin. He and Beverly recently became proud grandparents to Brennan. Mark is a strong supporter of the NTID Alumni Association, and encourages other NTID alumni to support RIT/NTID.