The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at Illinois State University is pleased to announce a new scholarship being offered to our students. The Dr. Ann Beck Endowed Scholarship was established in 2019 as an annual award supported by Dr. Ann Beck and Gary Beck to celebrate her upcoming retirement.
Beck’s first position was as a clinical speech and language pathologist at the Danville Veterans Administration Medical Center where she worked for 12 years. Following this, she worked as a speech-language pathologist in the Danville schools for five years.
After moving to Bloomington in 1992, she took a position as a faculty member in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology (now CSD). Beck taught classes in Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Clinical and Diagnostic Methods, Research Methods, Counseling, and Neurogenics. In 2003 she accepted the position of clinic director for the Eckelmann-Taylor Speech and Hearing Clinic and served in that position until 2005 when she became an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
In 2010 Beck returned to CSD as interim chair and became the chair in 2012. She served in this position until she retired in July 2019. “Throughout the time I was associated with CSD, I truly believed our students were some of the best in the University and I was always proud to say I was a member of CSD,” she said. “It is my privilege to continue helping such highly qualified students achieve their educational goals.”
The Dr. Ann Beck scholarship was fully endowed in the summer of 2021, with the first recipient, Adrianna Jakubowski chosen in October. Jakubowski is a second-year graduate student in speech-language pathology. Along with her excellent GPA, strong letters of recommendation, and obvious work ethic being a student manager at the Watterson Dining Center since 2019, she wrote a compelling essay about the importance of self-compassion in clinical work. Future recipients of this $1,000 scholarship will be chosen in the spring, starting in 2022. Congratulations, Adrianna, and thank you, Dr. Beck, for continuing to support CSD students even after your retirement!
