co-host on the Southeastern Wisconsin MDA Telethon broadcast on WDJT CBS- 58 in Milwaukee. He’s also been a member of the MDA National Task Force on Public Awareness since 1997.

In 2006, Marquette University named Neufeldt recipient of the prestigious James T. Tiedge Memorial Award, given to former students of broadcast and electronic communication for professional excellence consistent with the values of ethical behavior and social responsibility.

Reflections on Robert Ross

An important influence in Neufeldt’s life was his friend Robert Ross, to whom he became close while serving as National Goodwill Ambassador. This connection makes Neufeldt’s selection as the first recipient of the newly renamed Robert Ross National Personal Achievement Award even more special to him.

“Bob Ross was one of the kindest men I have ever met,” Neufeldt says, explaining that one of the things he remembers most was the phone calls Ross made to him and his family.

“He would always call just to say ‘hi’ and see how we were doing,” Neufeldt says, adding that the calls didn’t stop after his two terms as national ambassador concluded. “The phone calls continued and always told me that Bob, my friend, cared about how I was doing. I miss Bob’s phone calls.”

Neufeldt remembers making many trips with his family to visit Ross in Tucson, Ariz., where he enjoyed watching Ross play with his dog, Tallulah, and testing his vocabulary in endless rounds of a word game Ross loved called GHOST.

“I miss Bob very much,” Neufeldt says, adding, “I think about the great legacy he left MDA.

“It’s a great honor to receive the Robert _Then

Ross MDA Personal

Achievement Award.

When I think about personal achievement and lifetime achievement, it’s Bob who I think about.”

Looking
ahead

As recipient of the national achievement award, Neufeldt looks forward to continuing his enduring friendship with

MDA, serving as leader, role model and teacher to those with disabilities and without.

“I never wanted to be a teacher, but in many ways I have been teaching people about disabilities my whole life,” Neufeldt says. “MDA has given me the

Now

Mike — then known as Mikey — back in 1987 as MDA’s National Goodwill Ambassador and, 20 years later, as the latest recipient of MDA’s National Personal Achievement Award.

exposure and platform to speak and be someone who is recognized as a leader.

“I feel honored and humbled that

people think of me as an inspiration. I just try to live my life the best way I know how.” q

Six Familiar Faces

Catching up with past MDA National
Personal Achievement Award recipients

by Amy Labbe

Michael Wasser, 2005
33, Becker muscular dystrophy

An attorney with the New York City Corporation Counsel’s Office, Wasser works on matters he finds meaningful and interesting. This includes consulting on real estate transactions that benefit cultural and other institutions, and representing the city in the

acquisition of property for building public schools, parks and affordable housing.

“This is in addition to my other job,” he jokes. “The one all-too-familiar to those of us living with muscular dystrophy — the job where I must wake up, wash up and win a pitched battle with my pants.”

Since receiving the PAA, Wasser has co-authored a chapter for the New York State Bar Association’s book on condemnation law. He’s met Mayor Michael Bloomberg and attended receptions commemorating the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act at Gracie Mansion (the official residence of the mayor of the city of New York).

For Wasser, winning the MDA National Personal Achievement Award was a “treasured honor,” one of many steps in his efforts to improve access for people with disabilites.

“It is my ability to interact with judges, colleagues, adversaries and other New Yorkers as a peer, who just happens to have a disability, where I believe the most effective progress toward transcending disability is made,” he says. “These nonpublicized, everyday opportunities go further than any award or article ever could.”