Faculty

faculty pic 2023

Our Communicative Disorders and Sciences Department is home to dedicated and experienced faculty members. Information about each faculty member, their areas of expertise, and research can be found below:

Interim Department Chair

Pei-Tzu Tsai, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Pei-Tzu Tsai

Graduate Program Director

Eduardo Europa, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

 Eddie Europa

Director of Clinical Education

Cynthia Van Laar, M.A., CCC-SLP

Cynthia Van Laar

Faculty Directory

Paul W. Cascella, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Paul Cascella

Kathleen Castillo, M.A., CCC-SLP

Kathleen Castillo

Eun-Ae Choi, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Eun-Ae Choi

Danielle DeWitt, M.S., CCC-SLP

Danielle DeWitt

Cindy Esquivias, M.S., CCC-SLP

Cindy Equivias

Zoe Giatis, M.A., CCC-SLP

Zoe Giatis

Joseph Hinz, Au.D., CCC-A
 Hinz bio pic

Alicia Henderson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Alicia

Daniel Krass, Au.D.

Daniel Krass

Reiko Kataoka, Ph.D.

Reiko Kataoka

Nidhi Mahendra, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
 Nidhi Mahendra

Marcella McCollum, Ed.D., CCC-SLP

Marcella

Erin Nokes, AuD., CCC-A

Erin Nokes

Wendy Quach, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Wendy Quach

Lupe Ramirez-Steele, M.A., CCC-SLP

Lupe Ramirez-Steele

Anita Schaack, M.S., CCC-SLP

Theresa Yao, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Theresa Yao

Carol Zepecki, Ed.D., CCC-SLP

Carol Zepecki

Emeritus Faculty

 

June McCullough, Ph.D., CCC-A

June McCullough

Jean Novak, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Jean Novak

Evelyn Merritt, M.A., CCC-A
 Merritt pic

Michael Kimbarow, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Michael Kimbarow

Henriette Langdon, Ed.D., F-CCC-SLP

Henriette Langdon

Gloria Weddington, Ph.D., F-CCC-SLP

Gloria Weddington

Recent Faculty Highlights

Dr. Pei-Tzu Tsai presented as the 2021 SJSU University Scholar on "Learning from Stuttering: A Path from Disorder to Diversity". Dr. Tsai discussed underlying factors of stuttering and stuttering therapy to develop culturally and linguistically responsive services for individuals who stutter and advocated for acceptance and diversity in communication.

Nidhi Mahendra

Dr. Nidhi Mahendra recently published "Mentoring underrepresented students in speech-language pathology: Effects of didactic training, leadership development, and research engagement" in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Her work to launch the Healthy Development Community Clinic, alongside SJSU Professors Dr. Cara Maffini (in Child and Adolescent Development) and Dr. Matthew Capriotti (in Psychology) was recently covered on KRON4 News.

Marcella McCollum

Dr. Marcella McCollum was featured in the SJSU story "Transforming the Way We Teach" which focused on the Lurie College of Education's Strategic Plan initiatives.

We need to think about changing paradigms,” says McCollum. “We cannot just offer a class or textbook that tells you how to overcome the challenges that exist in our current educational systems as they are designed. We want students to question why things are the way they are. We want them to have the tools, so they can push back when something looks unjust.”

Pei-Tzu Tsai and Grace Shefcik

Dr. Peitzu Tsai co-published "Voice-related Experiences of Nonbinary Individuals" in the Journal of Voice with CDS alumni Grace Shefcik, who also received the SJSU Outstanding Thesis Award for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Watch CDS faculty Dr. Nidhi Mahendra present her research related to the Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic at the Spring 2021 LCOE Faculty Research Symposium.

  • 26:24​ – Nidhi Mahendra PhD – Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders and Sciences – “Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC): Where aphasia research, clinical service delivery, and student training meet”

Wendy Quach

Dr. Wendy Quach coauthored "Assessment of adults with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who need augmentative and alternative communication: Clinical decisions of AAC specialists" in Communication Disorders Quarterly and co-presented "Emergency preparedness for individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication: Reviewing a Text Message Toolkit" at the ISAAC Connect Conference.

Faculty Employment

If you are an SLP or audiologist with 5+ years of experience and seeking an opportunity to work with undergraduate and graduate students, come join our department. Complete this LCDS Lecturer and Supervisor Contact form and a department representative will contact you.

We are particularly interested in applicants who have experience and expertise working with diverse students and have a clear commitment to improving access to higher education for underrepresented groups.

Positions are subject to employment verification, education/credential verification, reference checks and criminal record checks. A background check (including the criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position by the California State University (CSU). Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect applicant status or continued employment of current CSU employees.