It is such a pleasure to send greetings and warm wishes to all of you. The 2017-18 academic year was exciting and productive. It was also a year of change within the division. We welcomed Drs. Lindsey Byom and Hannah Siburt as members of the faculty. We also hosted a retirement celebration for Dr. Melody Harrison. Dr. Harrison offered leadership for us in numerous roles for over 30 years; I am sure many of you have fond memories of her neuroanatomy class. Dr. Harrison also served as program coordinator for our speech-language pathology program. Dr. Cara McComish is now serving in that leadership role and she and I, both, recently completed our first year serving in leadership roles for the division.
We are fortunate that we are able to build on such a wonderful tradition of excellence thanks to our faculty, students, and alumni. Our tradition of excellence will reach a milestone of 50 years in the year 2020. Fifty years – now that is reason for another celebration. We invite you back to Chapel Hill to join in the 50th anniversary celebration. The dates will be announced in 2019.
You will find other reasons for celebration within this newsletter. There are highlights related to some student accomplishments. These accomplishments are a reflection of the commitment and devotion of our faculty. Their accomplishments are also a reflection of you, and your willingness, and skills, in serving as clinical preceptors, and your willingness to support the division with your financial contributions.
As division director, I am keenly aware of the need, and the value, of your financial support for our division and our students. The Department of Allied Health Sciences recently hired Erin Kinney as our new development director. Find more information about her within this newsletter. You will also find a link that you can use to donate to the division. You can donate to our general Speech and Hearing Sciences Advancement Fund or specify a more targeted donation.
It is absolutely true that every donation helps in reducing the cost of education for our students and in affording us the
opportunity to offer the highest levels of educational preparation for our future speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and researchers.
It is an honor for me to serve as your division director.
Sharon Wallace Williams, PhD, CCC-A
Director, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences