Helen has served as the Director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders since August of 2016 and has the pleasure of working with enormously talented faculty who are committed to student learning and to moving the field of speech-language pathology forward through research.
David Brown, PhD joined Pacific University in August 2012. Dr. Brown previously served as Director of Audiological Research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and was also on the faculty at University of Cincinnati in Ohio. His areas of specialty include otoacoustic emissions, auditory brainstem response diagnostics, newborn hearing screening, and pediatric audiologic diagnostics, with a strong research interest in simulation technology.
Dr. Jill Dolata is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Dolata is interested in the role social communication plays in early language development with particular focus in early identification, assessment of expressive language, and measurement of language outcomes in the population of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Caitlin Fitzgerald is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Director of Clinical Education in the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Pacific University. She is dedicated to supporting graduate students in their development as clinicians through a community-based model that values service, collaboration, advocacy and diversity. Her clinical background is in pediatric medical settings, with a particular interest in feeding and swallowing disorders.
Dr. Peter Flipsen Jr. has been at Pacific since fall 2013. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta in his native Canada and then went on to receive his Master’s degree in in Speech-Language Pathology from Michigan State University. After practicing for four years as a speech-language pathologist in Fort Nelson, British Columbia (at mile 300 on the Alaska Highway), he returned to school and obtained his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is certified as a speech-language pathologist in both the United States and Canada.
Melissa is pleased to serve as an Assistant Professor in the School of CSD, supervising graduate students in the delivery of speech-language services in the Pacific University Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinics. Her professional interests include working with clients with acquired brain injury dementia, and other cognitive-linguistic challenges.
Katie Lardy joins the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders as Student Services Manager after working for nine years in the Career Development Center at Pacific University as the Assistant Director and Pathways Coordinator.
Mary joined the CSD faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor in 2018. Her professional interests include clinical education, language/literacy interventions for school-age students, service delivery in school settings, collaboration, and high quality professional learning.
Dr. Ana Lia Oliva is a bilingual-bicultural Latina who has dedicated her leadership career to the advancement of educational and racial equity in community-based and K-12 public education systems with a special focus on inclusive, equitable, and culturally responsive practices.
Trey Peterson joins the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the start of 2022 as an administrative assistant. With a background in economics, he is thrilled to bring both an analytical eye and a problem-solving approach to the department.
Dr. Amanda Stead is an associate professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her passion is for working with geriatric patients and issues related to stroke, dementia, end-of-life care and counseling.
Jordan Tinsley joined the CSD faculty in 2020 as Clinical Assistant Professor. She is excited to use her background in medical speech-language pathology to help coordinate community-based student placements and to teach clinical skills to the next generation of SLPs. Jordan's professional interests include voice disorders, gender-spectrum voice & communication, and using simulations to supplement clinical learning.