By all accounts, Ralph “Rick” Ferig (hearing) was by far the most intelligent employee ever hired at CSDR. He was blessed with super-fast and complex cognitive functions at birth. He grew up in a family passionate about education, thoughtful discussions and books. In 1975, I visited his childhood house and saw one bedroom full of books stacked from floor to ceiling, taking up the room capacity. It must have been thousands of books. His father was a professor of international relations at USC.
Rick’s intelligence quotient assessment ranked him in the top one percent of the general population. According to his brother, Kurt, Rick’s IQ score was 196. This score is significantly higher than that of those big names from the past and at the present such as Albert Einstein, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, to name a few. The estimated score of Leonardo da Vinci from the 16th century in Italy was 180-200. Rick and Leonard da Vinci are in the same category of the exceptionally highly gifted minds.
For comparison purposes, most people have an average IQ between 90 and 115—only two percent of the population score above 130.
Rick graduated from high school at fifteen and was the class valedictorian. He entered USC as a Trustee Scholar and graduated with honors at the age of nineteen.
With his mental prowess, he could easily select a career with high demand for complex problem solving. He could have chosen to study nuclear engineering if he wished to pursue the specialty. He, however, didn’t have it in his heart. He wanted to do something that held his interest for long term. He wanted to work with people. Teaching was his calling. He loved to inspire and motivate people to excel.
Rick’s mother, Nelle, was teaching the gifted class at CSU Los Angeles. Rick found out there about a stipend to pay for graduate studies and living expenses if he signed for Deaf Education. After some thought and discussion, Rick decided to. Go on this particular route at CSU at Northridge. The more he learned about the field, the more he loved it.
With his chosen goal to work with deaf children, he went to CSUN noted for Deaf education for his teaching credential and master’s requirements and began his teaching career at CSDR at the age of 19 in 1969. Dr Brill wanted to start him in high school, but Rick reminded him that some seniors were older than him. His request to start in elementary school was granted. Over a period of 40 years, he taught in three academic departments and administered high school department ending in 2009 with retirement at age of 59. In 2023 at the age of 74, Rick died of heart failure.
For people with average intelligence, we are curious to know who were the few with exceptional minds. I asked this question to Rick. In response, Rick identified the top three colleagues with extraordinary mental aptitude from his 40-year period from 1969 to 2009 at CSDR: 1) Dr Brill,
2) Dr Lawrence Newman and 3) Miss Madeline Mussuanno.
Dr Richard G Brill (hearing)
CSDR Superintendent
1951-1977
Dr Lawrence Newman (deaf)
High School Teacher 1953-1972
Assistant Superintendent
1977-1986
Miss Madeline Musmanno (deaf)
High School Teacher 1953-1976
To stem a potential misunderstanding, bear in mind these four individuals were not the only four high-caliber scholars at CSDR. There were and are more individuals with amazing minds. Rick didn't consider other people before and after his period at CSDR. Before his time, four names come to me: Dr Armin Turechek, Dr Barry Griffing, Dr McCay Vernon and Dr Gilbert Delgado. Two more possible names are Arthur Montoya and Toivo Lindholm.
In Fall 1950, Dr Turechek (CODA) beat Dr Brill on the state civic examination for the new superintendent position at CSDR. The highest priority for hiring in the old days was the highest state civic exam score. However, Turchek and Brill agreed to switch the two highest administration positions for their own reasons.
Dr Barry Griffing (CODA) first taught in middle school at CSDR and climbed the promotion ladder to become the Director of the State Special Schools in the 1970s.
Dr McCay Vernon (hearing with a deaf wife) started as a middle school teacher and then became a psychologist at CSDR. He gained the national prominence as an expert on the psychological aspects of deaf people for professional journals and court appearances as a consultant. At his peak, Dr Vernon was the nation’s top psychologist of the deaf in the 1970s and the 1980s.
Dr Gilbert Delgado (hearing) started his new career as a teacher in Fall 1953 and then became a principal at CSD Berkeley. He moved to Washington DC to report as the Dean of Graduate School at Gallaudet. For his last career step, he took over as a school superintendent at the New Mexico School for the Deaf.
I think Art Montoya (deaf) was not fully acknowledged for his high mental faculties. He was a professor for Special Education at the University of Puerto Rico where he gave lectures in spoken Spanish. He later came to CSDR in 1973 as a psychometrist to perform assessments for new and outgoing seniors.
Lastly but not least, Toivo Lindholm (deaf) struck me as unusually bright on the basis of his writings. He wrote an impeccable English with complex sentence structures. I read his senior-year papers handwritten in 1918 at the Minnesota Academy School for the Deaf. Jaw-dropping. He could easily pass as a Rhode scholar, an exclusive club for those with outstanding intellect for postgraduate study at Oxford University. According to his daughter in law, Toivo had no speech and lipreading skills. The lack of skills didn't stop him from becoming super smart. After 45 years of printing work, he retired as a printing teacher at CSDR in 1968.
In closing, I had Rick for my 8th and 12th grade teacher in the 1970s. I was always ready to learn an unfamiliar word from him. His vocabulary was impressive. The last new word I learned from him was “hunker down” meaning staying home for a period of time during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Thank you, my teacher.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
5 December 2024
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