Richard Curlee, PhD

Dr. Richard Curlee arrived at the University of Arizona in 1975 as the program was building strength as a research- emphasis university. Having earned his BA from Wake Forest University (1961) and his MA and PhD from the University of Southern California (1965; 1967), Dick quickly emerged as a leader in the field. He served as Associate Secretary for Research and Scientific Affairs for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association from 1971 to 1975. The University of Arizona was fortunate that Dr. Curlee spent nearly his entire academic career here. As a leader in the area of stuttering, Dr. Curlee was among the first to apply principles of experimental method to the design and implementation of treatment research. As noted by his colleagues, Roger Ingram and Ed Conture, “Dick also tackled some of the major issues associated with measurement and treatment outcome evaluation in stuttering. In fact, it is fair to say that Dick’s accomplishments in the 1960s and 1970s served as prologue to what would come to be called ‘evidence-based practice’ (EBP) in our field–something that he later helped to formalize within the discipline.”

Dr. Curlee’s professional service included editorship of the Journal of Fluency Disorders, and at the University of Arizona, he served as Interim Department Head and Associate Dean of the Graduate College. Among the honors bestowed upon Dr. Curlee was the Malcom Fraser Award from the Stuttering Foundation of America, ASHA Fellow, and the Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.