[2] The NCOD was founded in the 1960s, on the site of the former San Fernando Valley State College (SFVSC) in Northridge, Los Angeles.
In 1960 The John Tracy Clinic received a planning grant to develop a "Leadership Training Program in the Area of the Deaf".
Wayne F. McIntire, of San Fernando Valley State College, assisted by Ray L. Jones and Edgar Lowell of the Tracy Clinic, directed the development of an interdisciplinary curriculum in leadership training.
Master's degrees were presented to ten participants, and adult education classes were set up at a local church.
In 1964 the NLTP admitted its first two deaf students and provided them with interpreters and notetakers for full access to university classes.
That year the Department of Special Education established credit courses in American Sign Language and Interpreting.
On June 1, 1972, the college was renamed California State University, Northridge; by then the Fall enrollment of deaf students exceeded one hundred for the first time.
The Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation appointed a deaf professor as head of the Teacher Preparation Program.
In 1989 the center was housed in a new building, Jeanne M. Chisholm Hall, donated by Grace Petri in memory of her sister.
In 1991 a Regional Outreach Program was established by the NCOD to serve colleges and universities in Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada; several more states were later added.
[7] In 2012 students from the Center participated in police training exercises to simulate interactions between officers and deaf people at crime scenes.
[10] Beginning in 1978, the NCOD accumulated a large collection of deaf-centered books and audio-visual materials that cover the history, culture, and societal treatment of the deaf community.