Communication Sciences and Disorders professor and alumna chosen to lead ECU faculty

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   Dr. Marianna Walker, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders in the College of Allied Health Sciences, was elected chair of the ECU faculty on April 28. Her term begins July 1 for the 2009-2010 academic year.
 
This is the first time a faculty member from the College of Allied Health Sciences has held this position. Others elected to represent ECU faculty are Vice-Chair Dr. Mark Sprague, associate professor of physics, and Secretary Hunt McKinnon, AIA, teaching assistant professor of interior design and merchandising. 
 
Walker received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech language and auditory pathology from ECU. She earned her doctoral degree in literacy and language from North Carolina State University. She serves as chair of the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech & Language Pathologists and Audiologists and is a fellow of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.  
 
In August, Walker was named the Barbara W. Bremer Distinguished Professor in Language Learning and Literacy Disorders, the first endowed professor in the College of Allied Health Sciences. As distinguished professor, she is promoting teaching and learning between communication sciences and disorders, the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and the Brody School of Medicine.
 
Walker’s ongoing research focuses on the underlying causes of reading disorders and the ways that normal readers and dyslexic readers can learn to read better as a result of specific visual, auditory and language exercises.