Rosenbek named University of Florida department chairman

An internationally known speech-language pathologist has been named chairman of the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of communicative disorders. John Rosenbek, Ph.D., succeeds James Hall III, Ph.D., who will continue as a professor and researcher in the department.

Rosenbek joined the UF faculty as a professor in September 2000, previously serving 25 years at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Madison, Wis. He is a fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and has received the association’s highest honor. In his research, Rosenbek focuses on the evaluation and treatment of adults with swallowing and speech disorders. He is currently investigating the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of swallowing disorders, a common occurrence after stroke, and is developing and testing behavioral therapies for aprosodia, the inability to express emotion through tone of voice, in patients with neurological damage.

“Among my earliest and most concentrated efforts as chair will be the encouragement of course development and the hiring and support of new, young researchers with present or the potential for future funding,” Rosenbek said. “The men and women in this department are hard working and creative. My enduring goal will be to let them know often and publicly that the future depends on them.”