Dr.Lottie L. Riekehof has been associated with deaf people, sign language teaching, and interpreter training for many years. She was one of the first to promote the signing of music and has successfully trained a number of choral groups in the presentation of signed interpretations of well-known songs.

Lottie Riekehof was born 1920 in Germany to Henry and Laura Riekehof, and was the oldest of four children. In 1923, Riekehof, with her parents and younger sister, Ruth, immigrated from Lage, North Rhine-Westphalia to Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Dr.Riekehof is Professor of Sign Communication at the world's only liberal arts college for the deaf, Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. Previously she was engaged in teaching and research at New York University's Deafness Research and Training Center, where she earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. She has also been a member of the faculty of Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, where she was actively involved in the training of interpreters as well as deaf college students.

Considered one of the leading interpreters in the nation, Dr.Riekehof has been in demand at the highest levels and was the platform interpreter for President Reagan's first inauguration ceremony.