Oct. 24, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo Travis Threats had a clear inspiration for what he wanted to study: his brother. Threats, who earned his master’s degree from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in 1984, said he first observed speech therapy when he was eight years old. “My younger brother, three years younger than […]
Tag: alumni
DRES alum’s posthumous gift takes spotlight: ‘I don’t think she ever forgot her debt’
April 24, 2024 | Ethan Simmons Susan Chaplinsky’s $3.4M estate gift funds endowments supporting disabled Illinois students To honor their sister’s time at the University of Illinois, the siblings of Susan Jane Chaplinsky thought a memorial bench in the open-air plaza of Disability Resources and Educational Services would be a fitting tribute. Because the work […]
Yogi, OT, teacher, researcher: Kinesiology Ph.D. candidate explores yoga for pain management
April 01, 2024 | Ethan Simmons The question that guides her research: How might yoga be used to manage chronic pain? To doctoral candidate Stephanie Voss, chronic pain treatment and yoga have more in common than we think. Voss, now in her third year of a kinesiology Ph.D program at the University of Illinois, first […]
Spurred to succeed: RST alum Larson knows importance of dedication to his craft
Feb. 02, 2025 | Adelyn Mui Many sports fans only see the athletes arriving at games, ready to take the court. However, the logistical and behind-the-scenes work often goes unnoticed. When a plane is delayed, causing the team to miss a connecting flight, or someone arrives 20 minutes late, it’s Josh Larson’s responsibility to ensure everything […]
Student Spotlight: Kaley Graves, from patient to practitioner
Aug. 22, 2023 | Ethan Simmons Audiology wasn’t initially Graves’ field of choice—she graduated from University of Illinois Springfield in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology Third-year audiology doctoral student Kaley Graves is missing the first week of classes this fall, but she has a great excuse. Thanks to her sterling accomplishments as a […]
How Joe Rank became a Chez Center guide
June 20, 2023 | Ethan Simmons Joe Rank is helping sustain a campus resource he could’ve used as a military Veteran who returned for further education: The Chez Veterans Center By the fall of 1965, the conflict between North and South Vietnam had escalated, as had the United States’ military involvement. With the draft looming, […]
RST alumna Simmons discusses the importance of giving back
July 25, 2024 | Sam Rink Pivotal. That is how Julie Simmons, chief operating officer and co-founder of Paragon Marketing Group, described her experience earning a master’s degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The experience not only influenced her successful career in sports marketing, but also led her to where she is now, […]
Student Spotlight: Charlie Nudelman, a trained ear
May 10, 2023 | Ethan Simmons Nudelman was raised by a speech language pathologist: His mother What comes to mind when you hear “professional voice-user?” Perhaps the image of an opera singer or a sports announcer pops in your head. Ask Department of Speech and Hearing Science doctoral candidate Charles Nudelman, and he’ll conjure dozens […]
Serving the profession through mentorship
July 10, 2022 | Anna Flanagan A CFY pairs a first-year practitioner with an experienced practitioner in a mentoring relationship designed to ease the transition between student and independent provider of clinical services When students take on their first professional position after completing their master’s degrees in speech and hearing science with a focus on […]
Oversen’s road to a Fulbright grant was paved by family
June 27, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo Spanish was spoken in her childhood home Amanda Oversen’s interest in linguistics has a very clear inspiration: her mom. Oversen, a Speech and Hearing Science major who graduated in December 2021, was recently awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain. Her goal is to become a bilingual speech-language […]