| FACULTY: |
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Denise Finneran
is an assistant professor in the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders. She
received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees
from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
and her Ph.D. from Purdue University. Denise has
worked as a speech-language pathologist in a
variety of settings before pursuing her
doctorate at Purdue University. Denise is the
director of the Language Development Research
Laboratory. Her research focuses on normal
language development and specific language
impairment in children with an emphasis on
grammar. |
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Hiram L. McDade is an associate professor
and graduate director in the Department of
Communication Science and Disorders. He also
holds adjunct appointments in the university’s
linguistics program and the department of
pediatrics in the School of Medicine. Hiram
received his bachelor’s degree from
Baldwin-Wallace College and master’s and
doctoral degrees from the University of
Tennessee. His research involves 1) the
relationship between various oral language
skills and emerging literacy, 2) factors
contributing to fast mapping in young children,
and
3) phonetic variables affecting word retrieval
and recognition. |
 |
Angela N. McLeod is an assistant clinical
professor in the Department of Communication
Sciences and Disorders. She attended
undergraduate school at Clemson University (BA
1991, BS 1992) and received her master’s degree
in speech-language pathology from Appalachian
State University in 1994. Angela completed her
doctoral studies at the University of South
Carolina in 2004. Her current research
investigates the relationship between storybook
reading and fast mapping in young children.
Other research interests include 1) emergent
literacy and 2) language development and
disorders. |
 |
Allen A. Montgomery is a research professor
in the Department of Communication Science and
Disorders and Coordinator of the Ph.D. program,
where he does the majority of his teaching. He
received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics
and master’s degree in Speech Pathology (with
Van Riper) at Western Michigan University. His
PhD is in Speech Science from Purdue University.
Al’s research interests include lexical access,
word recognition, speech reading, and fluency. |
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Danielle R. Varnedoe is senior clinical
instructor in the Department of Communication
Sciences and Disorders and Director of the
University of South Carolina Speech & Hearing
Research Center. She received her bachelor’s and
master’s degree from the University of Akron.
Danielle’s research interests involve 1)
efficacy and generalization learning in
treatment of speech sound disorders; 2) the
effects of phonologic disorders on emerging
literacy skills and 3) the relationship between
parent involvement and therapy progress in the
treatment of children with severe speech sound
disorders. |
| COLLABORATING PROFESSIONALS: |
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Regina Lemmon
received her bachelor’s
degree from Columbia College in 1997 and
master’s and doctoral degrees from the
University of South Carolina in 1999 and 2006,
respectively. She is currently an am assistant
professor at South Carolina State University. Regina continues
to collaborate on projects investigating the
relationship between young children’s use of
literate language features and their ability to
process decontextualized language. |
 |
Charvette Robinson received her
bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State
University in 1999 and her master’s and
doctorate from the University of South Carolina
in 2001 and 2008, respectively. She is a
speech-language pathologist for Richland County
School District One (in Columbia). Charvette’s
research interest is in factors that contribute
to the speed of word recognition. |
| PhD STUDENTS: |
 |
Tiffany Conyers received her
bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia
in 1999 and master’s degree in speech-language
pathology from the University of South Carolina
in 2001. She is a speech-language pathologist at
the VA Hospital in Augusta, GA. Tiffany is
working on her dissertation with Hiram McDade,
where she is studying the effects of phoneme
position on the neighborhood activation model. |
 |
Jessica Kersting received her
bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and
master’s from the University of Memphis. As a
doctoral student, Jessica is currently pursuing
research in the areas of specific language
impairment, emerging literacy, and lexical
access. |
 |
Suzanne Gresle received her
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
speech-language pathology from the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a second
master’s in French from Middlebury College. As a
doctoral student Suzanne is completing her
dissertation, under the direction of Al
Montgomery, where she is examining the influence
of consonant/vowel ratio on the perception of
speech loudness. |
