What do the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, 20 people and a foundation have in common? Passion. An earnest passion to ensure that children and adults with speech, language and hearing disorders receive the care they need to connect with the people they love most.

Ruth and Dr. Ken Altshuler, Diane and Stuart Bumpas, Pamela Busbee, Betsy and Bennett Cullum, Drs. Christine Dollaghan and Thomas Campbell, Tricia and Kenn George, Sara and David Martineau, Drs. Lynne Kirk and Bert Moore, Emilie Schepps, Barbara and John Stuart, Joyce and Linus Wright, and the Rupe Foundation have demonstrated their ardent support of Callier for years. They know that Callier is the foremost speech, language and hearing resource for North Texas and believe in Callier’s vision to transform lives by creating the preeminent center for treatment, training and research in communication disorders.

These dedicated donors are helping to propel Callier’s tradition of excellence into the future through the Callier Center expansion—a new world-class 63,200-square-foot clinical and student training facility in Richardson, as well as a renovation of the current 20,000-square-foot building which will be dedicated solely to research. Their generous contributions lay the foundation to raise $5 million for this $20 million endeavor. In appreciation of their gifts, many of these donors will have a space named in their honor, and all will be recognized on a permanent display inside the new facility.

Over the last 50 years, Callier has grown exponentially from serving 15 deaf children in the initial program to serving more than 4,000 children and adults through more than 48,000 patient visits annually. In the last seven years, undergraduate student enrollment in UT Dallas’ communication sciences and disorders programs has more than doubled. Callier’s speech-language pathology graduate program has become the nation’s largest and is among the highest ranked at No. 11 in U.S. News & World Report. Also well rated is Callier’s audiology graduate program at No. 3.

In the next half-century, Callier has the opportunity to make a profound impact on the future of clinical care through groundbreaking discoveries focusing on the genetic, neurological and environmental causes of communication disorders across the life span. To conduct this transformative research and expand Callier’s role as a global leader in the diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders, infrastructure is essential. And Callier is out of space.

Growing pains have not deterred these passionate donors who are paving the way for the Callier Center expansion. Sara and David Martineau were first to invest in this ambitious capital project. “The Callier Center expansion is an important project because it gives us the space and opportunity to strive through research and training to improve the quality of life for people with communication disorders,” said Sara Martineau, past president of the Foundation for the Callier Center and longtime Callier advocate.

Tricia and Kenn George were inspired by the state-of-theart treatment opportunities the new space will offer to the community’s rising patient population. “My passion for Callier began with the cochlear implant program for children and has steadily grown with the increase in serving so many with communication disorders,” said Tricia George.

“I am deeply grateful and moved by this stellar group of leaders who are taking the first steps toward Callier’s transformation,” said Dr. Thomas Campbell, the Ludwig A. Michael, MD, Callier Center Executive Director and Sara T. Martineau Professor. “I believe that the passion shown by our loyal friends will inspire others to join us as we create not just a building, but a future that is defined by new and innovative ways in which children and adults can communicate beyond what anyone could have imagined.”