History
1953 – East Tennessee Hearing and Speech Center established. Located in Turner House on the UT Campus, it became one of only six established in the state of Tennessee. Dr. Bernard Silverstein is Director. The Turner House was located where the Burchfiel Geography Building now stands on the west side of “The Hill”.
1956 – WBIR-TV begins 8-year run of broadcasting “Stop, Look, and Listen,” a live innovative TV program by Dr. Silverstein focusing on speech production.
1958 – East Tennessee Hearing and Speech Center relocates to its present location – Peyton Manning Pass (formerly Yale Avenue) and Phillip Fulmer Way (formerly Stadium Drive).
1962 – Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology established with Dr. Freeman McConnell as Department Head.
1963 – Dr. Harold Luper appointed Department Head.
1963-1964 – Graduate program established with five full-time graduate students.
1966 – Dr. Harold Luper appointed Director of UT Hearing and Speech Center. East Tennessee Hearing and Speech Center merges with the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology forming the University of Tennessee Hearing and Speech Center. Hearing and Speech Center Endowment established.
1967 – Child Hearing Services established through federal research grant awards to Dr. Carl Asp. Hearing and Speech Center satellite program at University Hospital established.
1969 – Ph.D. degree program added.
1972 – Administrative offices, classrooms, and research facilities of Audiology and Speech Pathology located in South Stadium Hall, in the southwest corner of Neyland Stadium. Pediatric Language Clinic established.
1973 – Dr. Harold Peterson appointed Clinic Director.
1974-1995 – Dr. Anna Nabelek awarded NIH research grant to study neurological and communicative disorders.
1975 – First two Ph.D. students graduate.
1984 – Dr. Carl Asp’s Verbotonal Program awarded major federal grant to maximize listening and speech skills of hearing impaired patients, strategies still used in clinics worldwide.
1985 – Annette Brown/Downtown Sertoma Scholarship established.
1986 – Harold Luper Endowment established.
1987 – Dr. Jerry Carney appointed Department Head. Deborah King appointed Clinic Director.
1990 – Jody Chambers Endowment established. Expansion of Child Hearing Services program including clients with Cochlear Implants.
1991 – Mary Jones Fund established. Dr. Jerry Carney elected ASHA president.
1993 – Jerry Carney/ASHA Leadership Scholarship established. Sol Adler Endowment established. Sol Adler Lecture Series Endowment. Sol Adler Memorial Conference begins.
1996 – First Departmental Graduation.
1997 – Tom Davidson Audiology Scholarship established.
2000 – Dr. Molly Erickson selected Fulbright Senior Scholar.
2001 – Drs. Anna Nabelek and Sam Burchfield awarded NIH research grant to lead research team in developing the Acceptable Noise Level test, now used in audiology clinics worldwide to predict successful hearing aid use.
2002 – Dr. Ann Michael appointed Clinic Director. Dr. Ilsa Schwarz appointed Department Head. Deb King Fellowship established by Knoxville Scottish Rite Foundation. Ethel Piper Scholarship established.
2003 – UT Hearing and Speech Center pioneers (Dr. Tom Pryse, Dr. Gibbs Prevost, Dr. Frank Bowyer, and Judge Howard Bozeman), gather at 50th anniversary festivities. First Doctor of Audiology graduates.
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary celebration of Hearing and Speech Center, building is named the Silverstein-Luper Building.
2004 – Dr. Bernie Silverstein Endowment established. U.S. Department of Education awards grant to Drs. Ilsa Schwarz, Ann Michael, and Don Thompson to prepare graduate students to improve literacy skills of hearing-impaired children. Dr. James Thelin elected V.P. of international CHARGE Syndrome Foundation.
2008 – U.S. News and World Report ranks Speech Pathology grad program in the Top 30 and Audiology in Top 25 in the nation. UTK budget crisis threatens ASP and results in unprecedented public outcry and support.
2009 – UT ASP established as lead center for Sarah Jane Brain Foundation. Department becomes affiliated with College of Allied Health Sciences at UT Health Science Center (UTHSC). Dr. Ashley Harkrider appointed Department Chair. Supervisors receive clinical faculty status. ASP faculty and students participate in outreach program to Jamaica supported by the Blount Hearing and Speech Foundation.
2010 – Dr. Noma Anderson, SLP and former ASHA president, appointed Dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences. UTHSC celebrates Centennial Anniversary.
2011 – Emerson Grace Doty Fund established. NIH grant awarded to Dr. Deborah von Hapsburg to study speech production and perception in hearing impaired infants. Legislation passed to allow UT to directly dispense hearing aids. ASP Community Development Board created.
2012 – Judy D. Haston Scholarship established. Pediatric Language Clinic celebrates 40th anniversary. Governor Haslam and the State of Tennessee recognize the Pediatric Language Clinic’s 40 years of service. New rotary chair – first of its kind in East Tennessee – added to state-of-the-art equipment in ASP Dizziness Clinic. Drs. Jillian McCarthy and Ilsa Schwarz receive funding from the Tennessee Disability Coalition for an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Lab.
2013 – Sydney Rae Sloan Scholarship established. Inaugural Tom Davidson Audiology Conference.
2014 – UTHSC and UT Knoxville offer a joint B.S. in Audiology and Speech Pathology.
2016 – ASP hosts its first ASP Parent Weekend. Tamika Catchings Endowed Scholarship established. Scottish Rite of Knoxville increases gift to ASP.
2017 – Dinner with Tamika Catchings. Former client, Lady Vol standout, WNBA star, and Olympian gives generously to the Tamika Catchings Endowed Scholarship and a new amplification assistance fund.
2018 - Dr. Samuel Burchfield Endowed Scholarship established.
2020 - In response to closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, academic and clinical operations quickly adopt new approaches to student education and patient care. Faculty, staff, and students responded well to short-term closures and pivoted to maintain excellence in all aspects of the program. Emily Noss and Allison Wegman appointed Co-Directors of Clinical Education in SLP.
2021 - Sidekick Scholarship Endowment established. Dr. Patrick Plyler appointed Assistant Dean of Faculty Affairs for the College of Health Professions.
2022 - Dr. James Thelin Scholarship Endowment established.
2023 - U.S. Department of Education awards grant to Drs. Ilsa Schwarz, Jillian McCarthy, and Erinn Finke to prepare academic leaders in SLP to improve outcomes for children with high need communication disorders. First interdisciplinary faculty member hired. Dr. Saravanan Elangovan hired as Director of Clinical Education in Audiology. Department reaches milestone of 70 years of service. ASP hosts Family Weekend and Alumni Homecoming.
2024 - ASP's early intervention services contract with the TN Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities renewed. UT Grand Challenges Grant awarded to ASP and UT Knoxville College of Social Work to create an interprofessional mobile service model to enhance care and outcomes in rural areas. ASP faculty and students study abroad in Ireland. Doctor of Audiology program is ranked 22nd by U.S. News and World Report. UT Conference Center Phase 2 is complete. Ceremonial Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting is held at the UT Convention Center, with hundreds coming to celebrate the entire department's new presence at the UT Conference Center.
2025 - The largest ever AuD cohort of 34 students begin their program. Dr. Ashley Harkrider appointed the Dean of the UT Health Science Center College of Health Professions. Dr. Devin Casenhiser appointed Chair of ASP. Former NBA player, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, visited ASP to share about his mission to improve healthcare for people who stutter. Dr. Patrick Plyer appointed Associate Dean, Faculty & Student Affairs for the College of Health Professions. Knoxville Scottish Rite increases annual support to ASP patients in need.
2026 - U.S. News and World Report ranks the Doctorate of Audiology program 18th in the nation and the MS-SLP program 36th. ASP faculty and students and students from UT Knoxville Kinesiology program travel abroad to Portugal, Morocco, and Spain.
Silverstein-Luper Building and Vistor's Center
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary celebration of Hearing and Speech Center in 2003, the building was named the Silverstein-Luper Building, named in memory of Dr. Bernard Silverstein and Dr. Harold Luper. Dr. Silverstein was the founding director of the Center in 1953 and was a distinguished professor of speech pathology at UT for many years. Dr. Luper followed Dr. Silverstein as director of the clinical program, and headed the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology with distinction for 23 years.
When the department moved out of the Silverstein-Luper Building in 2023 and into the UT Conference Center, the first floor visitor's area was then named the Silverstein-Luper Visitor's Center. Our program gratefully acknowledges and commemorates the contributions of Drs. Silverstein and Luper which formed and shaped the program as it exists today.
