Patricia McGovern Sweeting (Ph.D.’79, M.A. ’71), longtime director of TC’s Speech and Hearing Center — now the Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders — passed away in early September. Sweeting graduated from the College of New Rochelle in 1956 and later served the institution for many years as a board member and adjunct professor. She studied speech/language pathology at Teachers College and subsequently became Director of the Mt. St. Ursula Speech and Hearing Center in the Bronx. She returned to Teachers College in 1988, serving as clinic director, teacher, and clinical supervisor before assuming the leadership of the Speech and Hearing Center In 2003, the New York State Speech Language and Hearing Association awarded Sweeting its Distinguished Achievement Award, recognizing her years of service to clients and their families and her mentorship of generations of clinicians. Sweeting retired from TC in 2005 as Associate Professor of Practice, but continued to supervise in the graduate program of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York, in voice and fluency for several more years.

“There is no measure for the profoundly positive influence Pat has had on the quality of the graduate program at TC and on the professional lives of hundreds of our graduates,” writes her colleague and friend, John Saxman,  Professor Emeritus of Speech and Language Pathology, in a tribute piece also posted to the TC Web. “Lest this sound too parochial, these hundreds of speech and language pathologists are working throughout New York State and the country and affecting the lives of countless individuals with communication disorders. Many have assumed leadership positions and all are dedicated to the continued education of future speech and language pathologists. The model that Dr. Patricia Sweeting provided these graduates is one of the highest professional competence and continued responsibility to the profession.”

Published Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015