In June 1963, the Callier Hearing and Speech Center was incorporated as a non-profit, community-based institution to provide educational programs for deaf children in Dallas County. The impetus of the Callier Center came from a trust established by the estate of Mrs. Lena Callier.
A civic-minded and visionary committee including Dallas former mayor J. Erik Jonsson, Callier founding director Dr. Aram Glorig, and board president Nelle Johnston established the use of the Callier Trust.
Initially housed in the basement of the primary Dallas County hospital facility (Parkland Hospital), new land was secured by the Callier Center board to begin construction in 1968 of a permanent home for the Callier Center at the current 1966 Inwood Road location, adjacent to today’s UT Southwestern Medical Center.
The three existing agencies of The Pilot School for the Deaf, The Dallas Speech and Hearing Center and The Dallas Council for the Deaf were merged with the Callier Center’s services to form one cooperative program governed by a single Board of Trustees. Services were expanded with new programs to meet growing community needs.
In 1972, the Board of Trustees changed the center's name to the Callier Center for Communication Disorders in order to reflect the broad scope of programs.
In 1975, through a transfer agreement between the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Callier Center and the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, the Callier Center became a component of The University of Texas at Dallas.
Today, the Callier Center board members are carrying on the work of original trustees, who included highly respected Dallas civic leaders such as Joe M. Dealey, J. Erik Jonsson, Ben A. Lipshy, A.H. Meadows, D. Gordon Rupe, Julius Schepps, John Stemmons and R. L. Thornton.
The Mission of the Foundation for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders is to “Increase recognition of Callier in the community, increase the image of the Callier Center in The University of Texas System, and help carry out fundraising activities.”
Current Officers and Trustees
Kenneth Z. Altshuler, M.D.
H.B. Bell, Ph.D.*
Stuart Bumpas*
Pam Busbee (president)
Bennett Cullum
Marjorie Currey*
Paula Dennard*
Troy Dungan
Sharon Fjordbak*
Tricia George (vp development)
Jay Goltz*
Leslie Zale Greco*
Jane Hamilton
Ken Jaffe*
Gayle Johansen
Chris Jonsson
Debra Kaplan*
Barbara Lipshy*
Mike Lockerd*
Lynn Markle, M.D. (secretary)
Sara Martineau* (past president)
Mike McCullough* (of counsel)
Michael Meadows (vp nominations)
Ludwig Michael, M.D.*
Geraldine (Tincy) Miller (vp external relations)
Andrea Nasher
Richard Neely
Robert Neely*
Lee C. Ritchie (vp finance)
Emilie Schepps*
Pat Glorig Schiff*
Laurie Tycher Spitz*
Thomas Swiley
Carl J. Thomsen*
Howard B. Wolf
*emeritus trustee
