Audiology Pioneer Completes Half-Century Career at Callier Center

Dr. Ross Roeser has never been one to turn down an invitation.

The executive director emeritus of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Lois and Howard Wolf Professor for Pediatric Audiology, and longtime faculty member in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) at The University of Texas at Dallas, Roeser was invited to follow his mentor, Dr. Donnell Johns, to what was in 1971 called the Callier Hearing and Speech Center.

Over the next 50 years, Roeser was involved in developing and providing leadership in the University’s audiology program, as well as in the Callier Center in its entirety. He also molded the audiology doctorate program from its founding — all without ever having to formally apply for a new role.

Each time, he was simply the right man for the job — a calling he’s finally relinquishing with his May 31 retirement.

“I feel like I’m the fortunate one. I found a place where I could do what I like to do, and I did it,” Roeser said. “I never applied for a position formally. I didn’t apply to come here, to become the executive director of Callier, or to be the head of audiology. People just asked me to do it, and I was honored to be asked to do what I really liked and wanted to do. How much better can something like that be?”

Looking at the outcome, it clearly was UT Dallas’ gain as well. His research and leadership helped define and expand the scope of practice for audiologists within the U.S. and beyond. The audiology doctoral program is now widely regarded as one of the best in the country, ranked No. 2 nationally by U.S. News & World Report. Nevertheless, Roeser said he is most proud of his involvements in promoting universal neonatal screening and developing an active cochlear implant program at the Callier Center.

“I began my audiology career at a time when the identification of a child who was profoundly deaf meant that he or she would be sent to a state school for deaf children,” he said. “Such children would be separated from their families and become members of another culture — the Deaf culture. To see how cochlear implants have transformed the lives of children and adults with severe/profound deafness has been beyond anyone’s prediction just 25 years ago.”

“I feel like I’m the fortunate one. I found a place where I could do what I like to do, and I did it. … How much better can something like that be?”

Dr. Ross Roeser, executive director emeritus of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders and Howard B. and Lois C. Wolf Professor for Pediatric Hearing

Earlier this year, Roeser received the Aram Glorig Award — named for the founding director of the Callier Center — from the International Society of Audiology, in recognition of his distinguished career, which included service on the Food and Drug Administration panel that approved cochlear implants for children and adults.

“Dr. Roeser’s importance to the clinical and educational mission of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences must not be underestimated,” said Dr. Steven Small, dean of BBS and the Aage and Margareta Moller Distinguished Professor in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. “Our elite audiology graduate program stands on the strong foundation he built.”

Angela Shoup BS’89, MS’92, PhD’94, the Ludwig A. Michael MD Executive Director of Callier and one of Roeser’s hundreds of students over the decades, said that Roeser’s far-reaching impact is apparent in the audiology doctoral program, as well as in his work with students.

“His hands-on approach to education allowed him to mentor his students and thus touch the lives of countless patients with hearing disorders,” she said. “His commitment to audiology, particularly his passion for helping people communicate and thus transforming their lives, is long-lasting.”

That commitment will continue in perpetuity beginning this fall with the establishment of the Ross Roeser Fellowship in Audiology, an endowment supporting exceptional audiology students who demonstrate academic and clinical excellence as well as financial need. Roeser created the fellowship in 2019.

Jackie Clark MS’87, PhD’95, clinical professor of speech, language and hearing, might be the University’s leading expert on Roeser, having taken her first class from him in 1983. She has seen his influence from the perspective of a graduate student and, since 1995, as a valued fellow faculty member.

“The UT Dallas audiology graduate program has been the benefactor of Dr. Roeser’s long-term vision of what an exceptional educational graduate experience in audiology should look like,” Clark said.

The Right Place at the Right Time

By the time Roeser earned his PhD, he was already working as a Callier Center audiologist. The next year, he was asked by his mentor Johns, then Callier’s head of clinical services, to lead UT Dallas’ audiology program. Over the next 16 years, he molded it into the beginnings of what it is today: a highly sophisticated diagnostic and treatment program for those with hearing and balance disorders.

“Then in 1988, there was a national search for the right person to oversee operations of the entire Callier Center. At the end of the process, the administration came to me and said, ‘You’re the natural; why don’t you just take it?’” Roeser said. “They knew me well enough, and I knew them well enough. So, it seemed natural that I accepted their offer, and I did that for the next 18 years.”

Clark recalled Roeser’s crucial insight in 2000 when the terminal degree in audiology shifted from a master’s degree to a doctorate.

“He understood that success hinged upon increasing the advanced knowledge base without sacrificing quality in the didactic and clinical aspects of the program,” Clark said. “As a result, a number of unique classes were created after hiring additional audiology faculty, while clinical experiences were simultaneously expanded.”

At the end of his tenure as Callier executive director, Roeser contemplated retirement. However, another invitation soon beckoned, as Dr. Linda Thibodeau, then the head of the AuD program — now professor of speech, language, and hearing — was asked to collaborate on an initiative to advance technology research in human communication, leaving open the post that Roeser had originated.

“Dean Bert Moore said, ‘Well, we need to recruit a new head of the audiology program. Why don’t you do that for a couple of years?’ And I did that for a decade,” said Roeser, who cited Moore, the former longtime BBS dean, among the greatest and highly valued influencers on his career at UT Dallas.

The decision to postpone retirement was simple, Roeser said.

“Audiologists are ‘people people.’ We’re in this profession because we see how we can help people — those with hearing, balance and other communications disorders. Since entering the profession, unimaginable advances have been made in the technology and the ability to help people. It has been phenomenal,” he said.

“He laid the foundation for audiology at UTD to become what it is today through tireless service. He generously continues to share his wealth of knowledge with those who have followed him here, and he continues to share his clinical expertise with the professional community.”

Dr. Colleen Le Prell, the Emilie and Phil Schepps Distinguished Professor in Hearing Science and the department chair for speech, language, and hearing at UT Dallas

Roeser’s impact on the profession extended far beyond the University as one of the founders of the American Auditory Society in 1972 and its journal Ear and Hearing, for which he was the first editor-in-chief, and as one of the founders of the American Academy of Audiology in 1988. In 2002 he was invited to serve as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Audiology — the research publication of the British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology and the Nordic Audiological Society — a position he held for 14 years.

Dr. Colleen Le Prell, the Emilie and Phil Schepps Distinguished Professor in Hearing Science and the department chair for speech, language, and hearing, said Roeser’s impact on the profession — at UTD and worldwide — cannot be overstated.

“He laid the foundation for audiology at UTD to become what it is today through tireless service,” Le Prell said. “He generously continues to share his wealth of knowledge with those who have followed him here, and he continues to share his clinical expertise with the professional community. I wish him all the best with his retirement and his new role at UTD as professor emeritus after his many years of dedicated service to UTD and the profession.”

Dr. Robert Stillman, professor of speech, language, and hearing and a leading researcher in development of communication in neurodivergent and disabled children, arrived at Callier as a postdoctoral fellow in 1969, and, like Roeser, has served Callier for more than a half-century.

“Dr. Roeser’s foresight in embracing both cochlear implants and the clinical doctorate in audiology put the Callier Center and the University at the forefront of research, clinical service and student training in hearing,” Stillman said. “As an administrator, he successfully propelled the growth of the Callier Center while navigating it through a variety of transitions.”

Stillman also said that Roeser’s influence might best be symbolized by the hundreds of audiologists who took their first clinical courses with him.

“Few faculty members can be said to have significantly influenced not only the development of the University’s academic programs and bond to the community, but also the direction of the audiology profession,” he said. “Dr. Roeser may be leaving his active role with the University, but his influence and accomplishments remain to the benefit of us all.”