May 22, 2023 | Pamela Hadley
Welcome to the Spring 2023 issue of the SHS E-News! As we come to the end of another academic year, I am happy to report that students and faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science continue to thrive, to provide outstanding clinical services to individuals in our local community and throughout the state, and to make important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in our field.
We have also begun celebrating our 50th anniversary. The Department of Speech and Hearing Science was formally established at the University of Illinois in 1973. Throughout this year, we will honor the people who formed the foundation of the department as well as contributions to pioneering research and leadership in the profession with a series of articles. We hope you’ll join in our celebration. Watch for new articles during the first week of each month and visit our 50th anniversary website for more information.
In this issue, we introduce you to three faculty who are doing important research in the area of speech perception in noise. Mary Flaherty, Dan Fogerty, and Ian Mertes are breaking new ground as they work to identify why children and adults have difficulty hearing in noisy backgrounds and how they can best be helped. I am so proud to lead a department in which innovative research is the norm. It not only advances the field, but also ensures that our students are on the cutting edge of knowledge.
We say goodbye to Associate Professor Matt Rispoli and congratulate him on his retirement after 16 years with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Matt devoted his career to the question of how children acquire language. His research focused on early verb learning, the learning of syntax, and the development of incremental sentence production in children. Matt was a recipient of the College of Applied Health Sciences’ Phyllis J. Hill Award, which recognizes outstanding mentoring of undergraduate students. He will be missed!
I also am impressed by the initiative shown by our students to position themselves as leaders within communication sciences and disorders. One of our undergraduate students, Holly Panfil, will spend the summer studying Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices after earning a prestigious Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink internship. She will work with Dr. Julie Bouchard at the University of Quebec on a study of AAC devices in the workplace.
In this newsletter, we also highlight the accomplishment of numerous undergraduate and graduate students who have received scholarships and awards this year in recognition of their academic, professional and personal excellence.
Please enjoy reading the newsletter and take pride in knowing that your alma mater is strong and growing!
Pamela Hadley
Professor and Department Head
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