The road David Jenson, PhD, took to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine\u2019s Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences (SHS) hasn\u2019t always been straight\u2014and that\u2019s what informs his leadership today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenson has served as interim chair since July 2025 and was appointed chair this year, but he didn\u2019t set out to take an administrative role at the college. He didn\u2019t even set out to work in the field of speech-language pathology. Instead, his journey began in a much different setting: working in Egypt as a scuba instructor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI tell students that I took a gap decade,\u201d Jenson said of his earlier days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenson\u2019s interest in language stemmed from his experiences living and working in Egypt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted to learn the local language, so I made a conscious decision to live in a part of Cairo where I would encounter minimal English and would have to rely on Arabic,\u201d Jenson said. \u201cIt was eye-opening and humbling to be able to communicate clearly and get my needs met one day, then be unable to communicate effectively the next. I have a vivid memory of trying to order some food, repeating myself over and over, and still not being able to make myself understood. Someone finally had to step in and order for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he moved back to the U.S., that experience was in the forefront of his mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to take being able to communicate for granted,\u201d Jenson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenson\u2019s burgeoning interests brought him to graduate school, where he intended to pursue a career in rehabilitation for those experiencing post-stroke communication challenges. His academic work brought him closer to lab science, where he discovered both the field of stuttering and lab research at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe more you expose yourself to something, the more interesting it becomes and the more questions you have,\u201d Jenson said. \u201cDown the road after I specialized, I would have several family members who stutter. Who knew I would have family connections to my own field?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenson\u2019s pursuits brought him WSU, where his research now spans sensorimotor integration, speech motor processing, and perceptions of stuttered speech through his Speech Fluency and Electrophysiology Lab. He also spends time teaching stuttering and neuroanatomy to SHS students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI rework the course on stuttering every year because the field is changing so quickly,\u201d Jenson said. \u201cWhat stuttering looks like from the outside doesn\u2019t match the inside-out experience of people who stutter. It\u2019s a very misunderstood condition.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an educator and now as interim chair, Jenson espouses the belief that the goal is not to train students in a rote course of action. Rather, it is to teach people to be evidence-based clinicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHopefully you aren\u2019t doing something ten years from now just because that\u2019s what you were taught today,\u201d Jenson said. \u201cScience should be constantly evolving. This frames the way we\u2019re training our students, teaching them to engage in evidence-based practice with the best evidence available.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n