Department of Communication Disorders Faculty Member receives highest honor from student organization

Faculty & Admin.

Leonard L. LaPointe awarded the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association Honors

Award recognizes those who, through work with students, have contributed to both NSSLHA and the discipline

Dr. Leonard LaPointe, professor for the Department of Communication Disorders, has recently received Honors, which is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA). The Honors is given to recognize individuals in the field of communication disorders that have made a profound impact on NSSLHA and the discipline through their work with students.

“Not only does Dr. LaPointe have a way with brains, he also has a way with people. His down-to-earth attitude and expertise create the optimum environment for learning,” Jessica Obermeyer, Department of Communication Disorders graduate student said when asked about working with Dr. LaPointe.

LaPointe has been a caring mentor for many students who have passed through Florida State University, and his main concern has always been to facilitate learning and have fun while doing it. By creating a relaxed learning environment, LaPointe has helped many students succeed. Nowhere is this more apparent then with Adrienne Hancock, a previous doctoral student who worked with Dr. LaPointe, and won the Contemporary Issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders Editor’s Award this year. The Editor’s Award was also presented to Rolf Zwaan Leonard LaPointe, and two other Communication Disorders faculty members, Julie Stierwalt and Michelle Bourgeois for their publication “Computerized Measures of Verbal Working Memory Performance in Healthy Elderly Participants.”

“I take teaching and mentoring very seriously, so to be recognized by a student organization is a great honor,” LaPointe said when asked to comment about the recent award.

LaPointe is the Francis Eppes Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders. He earned his bachelor’s degree Michigan State University, his master’s and Ph.D. at University of Colorado at Bolder. He came to FSU in 2000.