Dr. Dimitri Kanevsky is a research staff member in the Speech and Language Algorithms Department at the IBM T.J.Watson Research Center. At IBM, he developed the first Russian automatic speech recognition system, and is currently responsible for key projects for embedding speech recognition in automobiles and broadcast transcription systems. Prior to joining IBM, he worked at a number of prestigious centers for higher mathematics, including the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1979, he invented a multi-channel vibration based hearing aid, and founded a company to produce and market this device. He also developed the first uses for speech recognition as a communication aid for deaf users over the telephone, for which he received an award from the National Search for Computing Applications from John Hopkins to Assist Persons with Disabilities. In 1998 Dr. Kanevsky introduced the first remote transcription stenographic services over the Internet, and created the ViaScribe product speech recognition concept and system that allows automatic transcription of lectures in real-time and the creation of multimedia notes. He currently holds 152 US patents and was granted the title of Master Inventor IBM in 2002, 2005 and 2010. His conversational biometrics based security patent was recognized by MIT, Technology Review Magazine, as one of five most influential patents for 2003. His work on Extended Baum-Welch algorithm in speech, another initiative for embedding speech recognition in automobiles and his work on conversational biometrics was recognized as science accomplishment in 2002, 2004 and 2008 by the Director of Research at IBM. In 2005 Dimitri Kanevsky received an Honorary degree -- Doctor of Laws, honoris causa -- from the University College of Cape Breton. He was elected a member of the Word Technology Network in 2004 and was a Chairperson of IT Software Technology session at Word Technology Network Summit 2005 in San-Francisco, California. He also organized a special session on Large Scale Optimization at ICASSP 2012 in Japan. Dimitri Kanevsky is being honored as a Champion of Change for leading education and employment efforts in science, technology, engineering and math for Americans with disabilities.