David Shapiro
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Phone: 828-227-3291
Email: shapiro@email.wcu.edu
Office Address: HHS 188
Education:
• Ph.D., Indiana University (Bloomington), 1984
• M.S., University of Vermont (Burlington), 1977
Biography:
Having begun as an Assistant Professor at WCU in 1984, I am pleased to serve and represent Western as its Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor. I continue to enjoy teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, providing clinical service and instruction to people who stutter and their families, engaging in research related to stuttering and professional preparation, and serving the university and larger community. My work has provided me with opportunities to teach, research, and serve on six continents. I enjoy collaborating with colleagues far and wide. Numerous guests have visited from countries including Norway, France, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Cameroon, and Japan, among others.
As a faculty, we remain busy and involved in our respective disciplines. Several organizations are close to my heart, particularly the International Fluency Association (IFA) and the International Stuttering Association (ISA). I am a Board Certified Specialist in Fluency and Fluency Disorders and a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. I was honored to receive IFA's Award of Distinction for Outstanding Clinician in Dublin, Ireland and served as IFA President from 2012-2014. While serving as IFA’s Past President, I convened IFA’s 8th World Congress on Fluency Disorders in Lisbon, Portugal (July 2015). At this meeting, professionals (speech-language pathologists, speech scientists, and researchers) and people who stutter from 32 countries/six continents gathered together to share experiences and learn from each other. I was humbled by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors when I received the 2016 Oliver Max Gardner Award, the highest honor the Board presents to faculty of the 17-campus system (May 2016). The University of North Carolina Public Television (UNC-TV) made a video for the awards event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcUArM9-51sf. I have since been humbled to receive Honors of the North Carolina Speech, Hearing and Language Association (April 2017) and Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (November 2017).
I served on the Inaugural Specialty Board on Fluency Disorders and participated in all of the World Congresses of the International Fluency Association and the African Stuttering Conferences. In Cameroon (2005) and Burkina Faso (2008), a colleague from France and I provided clinical service to people who stutter from 20 African nations. My current research continues to address multinational perspectives on stuttering intervention and is expanding to the assumptions and practices of indigenous healers. I am very pleased that the second edition of my book (Stuttering Intervention: A Collaborative Journey to Fluency Freedom, 2011, PRO-ED) continues to find a wide international audience. My wife, Kay, and I established a scholarship for graduate students to specialize in fluency disorders (https://www.wcu.edu/WebFiles/ShapiroScholarshipBrochure2016.pdf; giveshapiroscholarship.wcu.edu.)
I think you will see that our department is comprised not only of bright students and faculty, but people who work hard, have fun, and do well at doing good. I should add that Kay and I have two adult children, Sarah and Aaron, both of whom work professionally and live independently. When not working, I enjoy family time and hiking, camping, fly fishing, bicycling, kayaking, and traveling.