Looking Back on a Career in Communication Sciences

When Phyllis Breen, assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) in the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Allied Health Sciences (CAHS) retires on Aug. 31, 2017, it will bring to a close a career in speech language pathology (SLP) that spans more than 50 years.

For Breen, her passion for helping others communicate started when she was a student at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma in the mid-1960s. All the undergraduate students at Phillips received a speech and hearing screening, which intrigued her and she says that’s when something clicked. 

"I became interested in the different domains of communication disorders,” Breen says.

That interest led her to what is now the Hearing Speech and Deaf Center in Cincinnati after Procter & Gamble transferred her husband, Phil, to the Queen City in 1970. While working there she got to know Nancy Creaghead, PhD, professor in CSD at CAHS, and Laura Kretschmer, EdD, adjunct professor and professor emeritus at CAHS, who were building the clinical program in CSD in the 1980s. Her 20-year experience as a clinician made her an ideal addition to the program and she has been an integral part of it for almost 30 years.

"One of the things I love about the department is that everyone fulfills a unique role,” Breen says. "I think everyone respects what each other does. It’s a pleasure to work with people who are so dedicated to training students and striving for excellence.”

While at CAHS, Breen played a pivotal role in training students, serving as the practicum coordinator for the SLP program, connecting CSD graduate students with practicum assignments in community and health care settings. Besides helping students find jobs in their desired field, it keeps Breen in touch with former students who are now at work throughout the Tristate area.

"When I work with grad students in the field, I’m already mentoring them to be our future supervisors,” she says. "I’m amazed over the last 28 years at the number of former students who are now supervising our students.” 

Breen’s hard work over the years in CAHS earned recognition. In 2014, Breen received the Honors of the Association Award from the Ohio Speech Language and Hearing Association and in 2006 she received UC’s Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member Award.

"Phyllis is one of the rocks of the CSD department,” says Tina Whalen, EdD, dean of CAHS. "She was here from the very beginning as we built the college, and she helped develop the college by-laws. Up until very recently, Phyllis was working 32 hours a week, and in terms of her position and all that she’s done over the years, we’re replacing her with two full-time people, which speaks volumes.”

Breen says when she leaves UC she plans to sit back and reflect on 50 years of service and think of how she can contribute in the next few years. Those contributions will likely build on work she and her husband have been doing for several years.

"My husband and I have been very involved with different organizations in the city that advocate for persons with disabilities,” Breen says. "My husband is involved with Stepping Stones and United Cerebral Palsy, and I’m on the advisory committee for LADD, Living Arrangements for Developmentally Disabled. 

The Breens have a daughter with cerebral palsy who lives with them, and they lost a daughter to the same disorder four years ago. They also look forward to spending more free time with their three grandsons who live with another daughter and son-in-law in Cincinnati. One thing Breen says she’s not going to miss at UC is the challenge of parking in Eden Garage, but she is very much going to miss the CAHS faculty and mentoring her students. She adds she wishes she could be part of the excitement of moving into the new Health Sciences Building and having so many windows letting in an abundance of natural light.

"How exciting it is to be able to go into a new facility and potentially develop a new interdisciplinary clinic,” Breen says. "The future for the department and college is bright and I’m going to miss not being an active part.”