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Eleanor B. Morrison, Retired Associate Professor of Speech Pathology, Dies at 71

Eleanor B. Morrison, retired Associate Professor of Speech Pathology who served as a teacher and mentor of TC students for more than 31 years, died on January 21. Professor Morrison's work on the pathology and therapy for adults and children with organic speech problems and initiatives in remedial speech and hearing programs in the New York City public schools are her enduring legacies.
Eleanor B. Morrison, retired Associate Professor of Speech Pathology who served as a teacher and mentor of TC students for more than 31 years, died on January 21. Professor Morrison's work on the pathology and therapy for adults and children with organic speech problems and initiatives in remedial speech and hearing programs in the New York City public schools are her enduring legacies. Professor Morrison died of lung cancer and was 71 years old. She died at the Hospice of West Palm Beach, Florida.

Educated in New York City and a graduate of City College of New York (1957), Morrison received her master's degree (1959) and Ph.D from Teachers College in 1967. Before beginning her teaching career at both City College and at TC, Professor Morrison was a speech therapist and the Assistant Director of the Speech Therapy Department at St. Barnabas Hospital for Chronic Diseases. Though Professor Morrison was appointed Assistant Professor at Teachers College in 1968 she first taught at TC as an instructor in the Department of Speech and Theatre.

Throughout her career she held posts in the Agnes Russell School, the Corpus Christi School, the Good Shepherd School, and the Bank Street School, as the Coordinator of Speech and Hearing Programs. An expert in speech and language disorders, articulation disorders, diagnostic methods and practices in speech-language pathology, and communication impairment in the chronically ill and aged. Morrison was, in fact, an early investigator of speech disorders in people with Parkinson's disease and co-authored "Speech Changes in Parkinsonism During L-Dopa Therapy," which was published in 1970 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Seymour Rigrodsky, who was Chair of the Department of Speech Pathology, Language and Audiology during Professor Morrison's tenure spoke of her as an "excellent classroom teacher and advisor, who was loved by her students." In particular, Rigodsky noted that Morrison served as a major link to master's students in the department. "She had a keen ability to relate to them and make certain they had the best possible programs," he said. Morrison, according to Honor O'Malley, Associate Professor of Audiology, was widely known for the grants she received from the U.S. Department of Education. "That was important," O'Malley added, "because that's how Eleanor funded her students." Patricia M. Sweeting, Director of TC's Edward D. Mysak Speech-Language and Hearing Center, who was a former student and later colleague of Professor Morrison, said that Morrisson was "an absolute professional" who provided "a wonderful model" in her devotion to the department. Besides her many scholarly contributions, Morrison was a member the American Speech and Hearing Association, the New York State Speech and Hearing Association, and the American association of University Professors.

Morrison is survived by her husband, Dr. Walbert (Bill) Morrison, her children Dr. Leslie Foerstein and Robert (Mo) Morrison, her children-in-law Amy, Carlos, Sonia and Paul, and her grandchildren Alexander, Rebecca, and Cody. The family requests that gifts in memory of Professor Morrison may be sent to the Office of Development and External Affairs, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Published Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2001

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