With the end of the school year approaching, Dr. Reed, a speech
language pathology professor, is planning to retire after 11 years of teaching
at JMU and 45 years of teaching at the college level. Dr. Reed has made her
mark on the JMU CSD department through years of teaching courses at the
undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels; conducting research on children
and adolescents with language impairments; and publishing multiple articles and
books.
Originally entering college to study music, Dr. Reed’s long
and wonderful career in speech language pathology began due to an unexpected
turn when she was struggling with some of her music classes. Needing to find a
new major, she sought advice from an older student in her sorority who happened
to be a speech language pathology major. Dr. Reed met with a professor to learn
more about the major, and it turned out to be Laura Lee, a front-runner in the
field of speech language pathology. She switched her major and has been
dedicated to speech language pathology since. During her junior year of
college, she knew she eventually wanted to work at the college level as a
clinical supervisor due to the unique opportunity to work with both young
children and college students in the same setting. After graduating with her master’s degree,
Dr. Reed spent a few years in clinical practice before beginning to teach. Before
the age of 25, she began teaching at the university level, and she continued
teaching at 4 different universities across the US and in Australia before
landing at JMU. She contributes her
success in the field to wonderful mentors who gave her great opportunities to
expand her knowledge.
Dr. Reed says she will miss the people at JMU the most when
she retires. Throughout her time at JMU, she has loved seeing the contributions
made by fellow faculty members and being a part of the expansion of the
undergraduate and PhD programs. While Dr. Reed will be missed at JMU, she is
looking forward to the adventure that comes with the next new stage in her life.
Dr. Reed’s contributions to the JMU CSD department will not be soon
forgotten.