New faculty spotlight: Jessica Gormley, Ph.D.

Jessica Gormley, Ph.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Jessica Gormley, Ph.D.
• Hometown: Glenwood, N.Y.
• Title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute Department of Speech-Language Pathology; program leader for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) implementation

Research/professional interests:

• Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC);
• Child language development;
• Patient-provider communication;
• Health care education; and
• Family training.

How I fell in love with speech-language pathology: When I was in high school, I was introduced to a group of adults and children who were not able to use speech to communicate. Instead of speech, they used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems such as speech-generating devices, pictures or manual signs to communicate, and a speech-language pathologist helped them to set up and personalize these systems. I witnessed the profound impact that AAC systems had on the quality of life, independence, and participation of individuals with communication disabilities and I instantly knew I wanted to be a speech-language pathologist to help give this group a “voice.”

Degrees:

• Ph.D., communication sciences and disorders, Pennsylvania State University
• M.A., speech-language pathology, State University of New York at Geneseo
• B.S., speech and hearing handicapped, State University of New York at Geneseo

Memberships:

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Nebraska Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Three things people may not know about me:

• I love the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills.
• I completed multiple service trips to Haiti to help set up classrooms for children with special needs.
• I love traveling to different countries with my husband.

Clinic location: Munroe-Meyer Institute, 444 S. 4th St., Omaha