Lukas Franck Receives the IGDF Ken Lord Award

Lukas Franck receives the Ken Lord Award from IGDF.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- Lukas Franck was presented with the Ken Lord Award, the highest honor bestowed by the International Guide Dog Federation, at its 2023 conference, held last month in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Ken Lord Award recognizes the lifetime achievements of an individual who has served the international guide dog movement in an exemplary manner. It is named in honor of Ken Lord, a co-founder of the International Guide Dog Federation and the former CEO of the South African Guide Dog Association. Created in 2002, only 11 people have been recognized with this prestigious honor.

Mr. Franck currently serves as The Seeing Eye's Senior Consultant for Special Projects. He joined The Seeing Eye in 1978 and is both a guide dog mobility instructor (GDMI) and a certified orientation and mobility specialist (COMS). He has a bachelor's degree in speech pathology and audiology from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a master's degree in orientation and mobility from Western Michigan University.

Over the years, he has made many contributions not just to The Seeing Eye, but across the international guide dog movement. Guide dog users, white cane users, and sighted pedestrians have benefited from his work with traffic engineers to improve pedestrian safety.

Mr. Franck serves on the IGDF's Education Committee and Development Committee, and is a former assessor for IGDF. He also serves on the Environmental Access Committee of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).

In addition to the Ken Lord Award, Mr. Franck also is a recipient of the AER's Sandy Kronick Distinguished Service Award, the American Foundation for the Blind's Access Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Ethel Bender Award from Guide Dog Users, Inc.

The Seeing Eye, founded in 1929, provides specially bred and trained dogs to guide people who are blind. Seeing Eye® dog users experience greatly enhanced mobility and independence, allowing them to retain their active lifestyles despite blindness. The Seeing Eye is a 501(c)3 non-profit supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, bequests, and other planned gifts.

The Seeing Eye is a trademarked name and can only be used to describe the dogs bred and trained at the school’s facilities in Morristown, N.J. In 2020, the Seeing Eye dog was designated the official State Dog of New Jersey. For more information on The Seeing Eye, visit www.SeeingEye.org, call (973) 539-4425, or email info@seeingeye.org.