| 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. Her research focuses on specific
language impairment in children. |
 |
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. |
 |
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
lemmonly@yahoo.com 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 a private
practitioner in Charleston, SC. 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. |
| 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 rehabilitation manager for Heritage
Healthcare 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.. |
 |
Charvette Robinson attended South Carolina
State University (B.A. in 1999) and the
University of South Carolina (MSP in 2001). She
is a speech-language pathologist for Richland
County School District One (in Columbia) and is
working on her dissertation with Al Montgomery.
Charvette’s research investigates factors that
contribute to the speed of word recognition. |
 |
Jessica Kersting received her bachelor’s
degree from Auburn University and master’s from
the University of Memphis. As a doctoral
student, Denise 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. |
