Charles Healey, professor of speech language pathology in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, is retiring following a 37-year career at UNL. A retirement reception will be held from 3-5 p.m., Monday, May 5 at the Barkley Memorial Center, Room 130.
Healey’s research and teaching focused on fluency, voice, anatomy and physiology. He is perhaps best known for his research on stuttering and the CALMS assessment he developed to provide speech-language pathologists with an effective tool to evaluate stuttering for children in second through eighth grades.
“Charlie has trained thousands of students during his tenure at UNL,” said Sherri Jones, SECD department chair. “I was one of them. Charlie’s courses developed my critical thinking skills, encouraged me to think big, ask tough questions, and seek solutions to complex problems. These outcomes remain with me today, 20+ years after taking his classes.”
“His stuttering assessment has been used broadly by clinicians to evaluate a child’s speech disorder and to start the process for getting them the appropriate treatment,” said Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences. “Charlie’s work has made the job of the speech language pathologist much easier and has made a difference in the lives of countless children.”
Prior to his tenure at Nebraska, Healey had earned his Ph.D. at Purdue and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky, both in speech pathology. In 2013, he was chosen for CEHS’s Swanson Award for Teaching Excellence. He is a past recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award from UNL’s former Teachers College, was recognized as an outstanding alumnus from Kentucky, and is a fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association.