Marywood University

Mona Griffer, Ed.D., Clarks Summit, Pa.

Mona Griffer, Ed.D, associate professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) department at Marywood University was elected an American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Fellow—one of the highest forms of recognition that is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding performance and have made significant contributions to the profession. Dr. Griffer will receive her ASHA Fellow award and will be formally recognized at the awards ceremony on Friday, November 18, 2016, at the ASHA Convention in Philadelphia, Pa.

Dr. Griffer was notified this June, that she was elected an ASHA Fellow. From hundreds of applicants considered for an ASHA Fellow this year, fewer than 20 were awarded Fellow status.

According to ASHA, “The key word for this award is ‘outstanding.’ The nominee must truly stand out among one’s peers. The term implies contributions that are significant and would be so regarded within and beyond one’s community and state. While there are thousands of members who fulfill their professional responsibilities competently, only a small percentage have, by virtue of the quality and amount of their contributions, distinguished themselves sufficiently to warrant recognition.”

Dr. Griffer has been teaching courses in pediatric speech-language pathology in Marywood University’s undergraduate and graduate programs for nearly 20 years. She is the founding director of the Master’s Program in Speech-Language Pathology and served as Chairperson of the CSD Department. As an ASHA Certified Speech-Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP) and a Board Certified Child Language Specialist (BCS-CL), her clinical areas of expertise and research interests include family-centered early intervention service delivery, pediatric language development and disorders, emergent literacy, pediatric oral-motor/feeding development and deficits, multicultural issues, and the supervisory process. Additionally, she serves as the 2016 Chairperson of ASHA’s Multicultural Issues Board and as an Associate Editor for Communication Disorders Quarterly, a journal of Hammill Institute on Disabilities, Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Dr. Griffer earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Speech and her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language pathology from Brooklyn College, CUNY, New York. After a very successful 12-year career as a clinician, clinical supervisor, and clinic director, she earned her Doctor of Education Degree in Child and Youth Studies at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where she held a faculty position as an Instructor/Clinical Supervisor. Upon completion of that degree, she accepted a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Marywood University.