By Cythia Washington, Contributor

The dean of San Diego State’s College of Health and Human Services, Marilyn Newhoff, was a recipient of the most prestigious award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The Honors of ASHA presented the award to Newhoff on Nov. 19 at its annual conference.

According to the ASHA website, this award recognizes members for their prominent contributions to the communication sciences and disorders. Though the ceremony brought tears to Newhoff’s eyes, she enjoyed the tribute.

“I appreciated getting nominated for the award and receiving it was a deep honor to me and a deep honor to SDSU,” she said.

Newhoff has been instrumental in expanding facilities and labs for various departments at SDSU, which includes the high-tech academic, clinical and research facility for the School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

“Marilyn’s ability to bring in financial support and recruit a cadre of excellent faculty members is the reason SDSU has become the high quality program it is today,” Jeannette Hoit, a professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, said.

With Newhoff’s guidance, SDSU established the first and only audiology doctoral program in California. This program has been nationally ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

“She turned the academic program at San Diego State University into a powerhouse by her sheer will and ability to work with people in our field … the spirit and competence of the (Speech, Language and Hearing Science Department) is contagious and a tribute to Marilyn’s instilling of pride in the faculty, ” Thomas Hixon, former dean of the Graduate College at the University of Arizona, had written in a letter of recommendation for Newhoff.

Newhoff is not only an administrator and mentor but also an internationally known scholar in the discipline of normal and disordered aspects of child language acquisition and neurological communication disorders. Through her scholarship, mentoring, leadership and administrative accomplishments, Newhoff has had a lasting impact on the speech, language and hearing discipline.

“Newhoff has motivated generations of speech, language and hearing sciences professionals while providing inspired leadership at each university she has served,” SDSU professor Lewis Shapiro said.