The Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center’s (CHSC) Board of Directors voted unanimously to name Jennell Vick, a nationally recognized professor, renowned scientist and experienced leader, its next executive director.
Vick, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, assumed duties as CHSC’s executive director on March 2. She holds secondary appointments in biomedical engineering and pediatrics. While leading CHSC, Vick will continue to serve on the faculty at CWRU and will expand her research initiatives on speech and language production, which are funded by the National Institutes of Health and The Hartwell Foundation.
More than 20 years ago, she trained as a speech language pathologist at CHSC and received her Master of Arts from Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Communication Sciences. For eight years, as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vick collaborated with one of the world’s top researchers in the area of speech production and cochlear implants. She then completed her doctorate at the University of Washington in Seattle and was in the inaugural class of Callier Postdoctoral Fellows at The University of Texas at Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders. Finally, she returned to Cleveland when she joined the faculty at CWRU in the Communication Sciences Program.
“The Board is elated about the creativity, energy, and leadership that Dr. Jennell Vick will bring to the Center,” said Tom Weber, president of the CHSC Board of Directors. “She intends to integrate these three vital attributes to promote new and innovative solutions to address the challenges of communication disorders and to enhance CHSC’s services and programs. We know that the staff, Board, and stakeholders of CHSC are looking forward to this new leadership phase for CHSC.”
As executive director, Vick will oversee and direct all operations of CHSC, and will be responsible for cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with professional associates and major stakeholders. She will represent the organization in all advocacy, business and professional capacities and serve as the main spokesperson for CHSC. To her new role as Executive Director, she brings particular expertise in innovation and skillful collaboration.
“It’s an incredible honor for me to return to lead Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, an organization whose 90 year legacy I have long admired. I have a fond appreciation for the populations served, the richness of the contributions to the community, the extraordinary growth, and the missions of this very special place,” Vick said. “I envision a Center where research and education are fully integrated with clinical services. This will both promote innovation and enhance the quality of client care.”