LITTLE ROCK – Amyn M. Amlani, Ph.D., of Denton, Texas, has been appointed chair effective July 1 of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, operated as a consortium between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR).
The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, housed jointly in the UALR College of Education and Health Professions and the UAMS College of Health Professions, offers a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Master of Science (M.S.), and Bachelor of Science (B.S.), degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Nanette Nicholson, Ph.D., also a professor in the department and director of the Doctor of Audiology degree program, has served as interim chair and will continue to do so until Amlani begins his duties.
Amlani has served since 2011 as an associate professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He joined the faculty there in 2005 as an assistant professor after serving in that same position from 2003-2005 at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.
He also is director of the Hearing Aid Technologies Laboratory at the University of North Texas. His research interests include the influence of hearing aid technology on speech and music, auditory plasticity in listeners with hearing loss and dementia, hearing conservation for musicians, and room acoustics.
In addition, Amlani is a distinguished researcher in the areas of: (1) economic and marketing trends within audiology, particularly with respect to evolving/disruptive technologies (smartphone-based applications, personal sound amplifiers/hearables) and (2) hearing conservation strategies for musicians and music educators.
Amlani earned his doctorate in audiology/psychoacoustics — with a minor in marketing and supply chain management — in 2003 from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. He received a master’s degree in audiology in 1995 from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a bachelor’s degree in communications disorders in 1993 from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a metropolitan research university in the heart of Arkansas that provides quality education through flexible learning and internship opportunities. The university prepares its 11,000 students to be innovators and responsible leaders in their fields. UALR is a driving force in Little Rock’s thriving cultural community and a major component of the city and state’s growing profile as a regional leader in research, technology, economic development, and job creation. The UALR College of Education and Health Professions emphasizes multidisciplinary collaboration, opening doors to high-demand careers. It offers successful individually accredited programs in audiology and speech pathology; counseling, adult and rehabilitation education (CARE); educational leadership; health, human performance and sports management; nursing; social work; and teacher education.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
