BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Rhoda Agin is Professor Emerita of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at California State University East Bay and Owner-Director of Communication Associates in Berkeley, California. In addition, Dr. Agin is Adjunct Full Professor at City University of New York Lehman College, Department of Communication Disorders. Prof. Agin completed her doctoral training in craniofacial anomalies and laryngeal physiology at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. She is a speech therapist and diagnostician, instructor, author, speech/voice coach and workshop leader specializing in voice training for professional speakers and performers. In addition, Dr. Agin evaluates and rehabilitates complex vocal disorders in pediatric populations (craniofacial dysmorphology to autism spectrum disorders) and adults (Parkinson’s disease to psychogenic and spasmodic dysphonias).

Prof. Agin received a California State University Specialized Training Grant for the study of speech pathology in the Soviet Union. She was awarded the Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Communicative Diversity in Multicultural Populations at Howard University in Washington, D. C.. Dr. Agin was the voice specialist on the faculty of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Conferences on “Teaching Cultural Diversity With-in the Professional Education Curriculum.” She has been a member of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Voice and Voice Disorders Experts Panel, and Research Planning Panel for Minority Persons. In Spring 1993, Spring 1994 and Spring 1996, Dr. Agin was Visiting Professor of Voice at the Department of Communicative Disorders of the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Orthodontics in the School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Agin served as Director of the International Students Program of the California State University System for 1995-96 at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Her book chapters about “Pediatric Voice Therapy in Culturally Diverse Populations” were published by Allyn and Bacon Publishers in November, 1999.

Dr. Agin is well-known for communication workshops and her seminars titled “Voice Projection and Protection: Vocal Skills for Professional Speakers and Singers,” and “Therapeutics for Voice Problems.” Her current interests include vocal disorders and dynamics across the age spectrum, multigenerational communication, and dialect diversity in culturally diverse populations.