CALLIER LIBRARY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders
As Executive Director of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Dr. Shoup sets the strategic vision of the organization and oversees the center's treatment, training and research efforts. Dr. Shoup brings extensive experience as an audiologist. Her research interests include implementation and outcomes of universal newborn hearing screening programs, congenital cytomegalovirus and hearing, developmental issues in audition, auditory electrophysiology, diagnostic assessment for auditory and vestibular disorders, hearing aids, and cochlear and auditory brainstem implants. Dr. Shoup is a past President of the American Academy of Audiology and currently serves as Chair of the Audiology Academy of the National Academies of Practice. She joined the faculty at UT Dallas as a professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and as executive director of the Callier Center in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- President
Mrs. McPherson has been involved with Callier since 2003, when two of her sons received cochlear implants. She and her family have been patients of Callier for over 20 years and have received clinical services and participated in numerous research studies relating to hearing loss and cochlear implants. She joined the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Callier Center and Communication Disorders in 2018 and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Callier Family Care Campaign, with a goal of raising $15 million for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.
Job Titles:
- Immediate past President
- Member of the Officers Team
Jodelle Oakley joined the Callier Center in August 2014 as director of the education division. She has over 30 years of extensive experience in early childhood administration, leadership and staff development. Ms. Oakley holds a Bachelor of Arts from California State University at Los Angeles and a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education and Administration from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Job Titles:
- Director of Development
- Senior Director of Development
As senior director of development, Mr. Banta oversees the fundraising and communications efforts for the Center. He liaisons with the Foundation for the Callier Center board of trustees to strategically engage the community through private funding, grants, special events and communications. Mr. Banta also manages the execution of the Center's major and annual giving programs, stewardship and outreach.
Job Titles:
- Callier Business Office / Accounts
Job Titles:
- Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- Treasurer
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Callier Center
Dr. Margaret Owen is a leading researcher in the areas of parent-child and caregiver-child relationships and young children's development in the context of these and other close relationships. Some of her recent research focuses on how the qualities of parent-toddler communication lay a foundation for successful language learning. She has collaborated with a large team translating these findings into interventions with parents and child-care providers to support low-income children's language success. In another large collaborative effort, she is studying individual, family, and contextual factors contributing to risk and resilience in the development of school readiness and school achievement in a longitudinal study of low-income, African American and Latina children in Dallas, now spanning from toddlerhood through middle school. Dr. Owen previously studied the effects of maternal employment and child care on children's development, from infancy through adolescence as an investigator on the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development throughout its multiple phases. Dr. Owen is the Director of the UT Dallas Center for Children and Families. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and has received the Rueben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations and the Margaret Cone Impact Award of the Dallas Association for the Education of Young Children. Dr. Owen earned her bachelor's degree from Oberlin College, her master's degree from the University of Kansas, and her doctoral degree from the University of Michigan.
Rachel Harris joined Callier as the Infant and Toddler Program Manager in November 2023. She leads and supports the team of dedicated teachers who specialize in caring for our youngest children, ages 6 weeks - two years of age. Rachel has over 20 years' experience in Early Childhood Education serving as an educator, trainer, curriculum coordinator and director. Ms. Harris graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education.
Job Titles:
- Doctor of Audiology Program
- Master of Science Program in Communication Disorders
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- Secretary
Scott K. Griffiths, PhD holds the position of Clinical Professor in the audiology program in the School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas. Having completed his MA and PhD in audiology at the University of Illinois, Dr. Griffiths had served on faculty at the University of Florida for over 28 years, serving in departmental administrative roles and working in the areas of auditory and balance physiology and attention. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed papers and presentations in these areas. Dr. Griffiths has served as President of the Council of AuD Programs and a Director on the Board of the Accreditation Commission on Audiology Education. He was elected as a Distinguished Fellow to the National Academies of Practice in 2017.