GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has a number of international connections, including:

International Agreements

These agreements are in place to promote mutual cooperation in education, scientific research and outreach:

• UCF – University of Gent (Belgium) General Inter-University Agreement
• UCF – University of Nijmegen The Netherlands General Inter-University Agreement

International Faculty Members   

Jennifer Kent-Walsh, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, S-LP(C)
Assistant Professor Jennifer Kent-Walsh joined the faculty in the 2003 fall semester. She is originally from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, and completed her Bachelor of Education in Secondary English and Mathematics at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and her Master of Science in Communication Disorders at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Kent-Walsh then went on to pursue her doctorate at The Pennsylvania State University, where she worked with Janice Light and specialized in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Dr. Kent-Walsh decided to pursue an academic career in the United States so that she would have opportunities to work with undergraduate students, as well as graduate students. She was attracted to UCF because of the mix of opportunities to develop teaching, research and service programs in the area of AAC. Since arriving at UCF, Dr. Kent-Walsh has developed new course work in AAC, established the FAAST Atlantic Region Assistive Technology Demonstration Center, and continued to develop her primary research agenda on improving early educational, language and emergent literacy results for children with developmental disabilities who use AAC. She maintains her certification as a speech-language pathologist with the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA) and periodically conducts research, teaching and service activities in Canada.

Anthony Pak-Hin Kong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Anthony Kong joined the faculty in the fall of 2007. He is originally from Hong Kong, China. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Kong then continued at the University of Hong Kong to pursue his doctorate in the areas of aphasiology and adult neurogenic communication disorders under the direction of
Dr. Sam Po Law.

Dr. Kong moved to the United States and accepted a faculty position at UCF so that he would have opportunities to collaborate with American scholars and to work with undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to moving to the United States, he worked as the department head of the Speech Therapy Unit at the Hong Kong Society for the Deaf (HKSD) and served as the vice chairperson for the Hong Kong Association of Speech Therapists (HKAST). He maintains his membership as a speech therapist with the HKAST and has ongoing research, teaching and service commitments in Hong Kong.

Martine Vanryckeghem, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BRFS
Professor Martine Vanryckeghem, who joined the faculty in 1994, is from the Flemish part of Belgium. She graduated in 1977 from the Higher Institute of Paramedical Professions in Gent, Belgium, and worked for 12 years as a speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor in a clinical center in Gent. In 1989 Dr. Vanryckeghem came to the United States to continue her education. She received her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Her master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation, both in the area of fluency disorders, were mentored by Dr. Gene J. Brutten.      

Becoming a university professor was really a "late calling."  After obtaining her Ph.D., the step toward academia was a logical one. Dr. Vanryckeghem’s goal is to extend services to people in need, to those who deliver these services and to the education of professionals-to-be. In order to serve those with fluency disorders to the fullest, in 2000 Dr. Vanryckeghem became a Board Recognized Fluency Specialist and Mentor. Most of her research is internationally based. The Behavior Assessment Battery for School-Age Children Who Stutter that she co-authors has been translated and researched in 15 countries. Some of these research collaborations have led her to establish inter-university agreements between UCF and the University of Gent, Belgium, and the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

She is a member of the Scientific Board of the Organization for the Integration of Handicapped People in Belgium, and a visiting professor at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and the University of Gent, Belgium. She serves as thesis and dissertation committee chair or member at several European universities and as a consultant to many professionals worldwide. She recently prepared an NIH R-21 grant proposal on the effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation of the premotor cortex on fluency failures in normally fluent adults with her colleagues at the University of Gent, Belgium.