Robert W. West

1892-1968

Robert West has become known as a founding father in the field of Speech-Pathology for various reasons: (1) he was active in organizing the American Speech Correction Association, (2) he was involved in the development of the first doctoral program in speech pathology (U of Wisconsin), (3) he was the first president of the American Speech Correction Association--later to become ASHA, and (4) he wrote what was to become a classic text in the field of speech-pathology: The Rehabilitation of Speech (West, 1937).

West was raised in a religious family in Wisconsin. When he was 17, he taught in a country school thereby beginning his career in education. He received a bachelors' degree in education in 1916 from West Virginia College. After graduating he took a job as a high school teacher. West was exempted from serving in the first world war because of hyperthyroidism.

He went on to to graduate school after the war, receiving a masters degree Madison, Wisconsin in 1920. He then became an assistant professor in speech at the University of Wisconsin and, in 1921, went to the University of Iowa where he became an associate professor in speech. He received his Ph.D. in the new field of speech pathology at the University of Wisconsin in 1927, having been influenced to go into that field by Smiley Blanton, who was director of the first university speech clinic at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

West was the director of the speech clinic at the University of Wisconsin from 1928 to 1950. From there he moved to Brooklyn College where he became the clinic director for the next thirteen years (1950-1963). In 1963 West moved to Stockton, California to join the faculty at the College of the Pacific.

West was very active in professsional affairs, serving as President of the Speech Association of America in 1943 and as a charter member of ASHA in 1925. (Then known as the American Academy of Speech Correction). He was also the first president of ASHA, with a term of office from 1925-1928. To honor West’s contribution to the profession, ASHA awarded him honors of the association in 1947.

One notable feature of West's physique was his dark glasses, which he wore because his eyes were light-sensitive. When he was young, he was blinded by snow while mountain climbing.

Writings about Robert West

Obituary: ASHA, (1968) 10, 331-332.

Bloodstein, O. (1999). West goes east. ASHA, 41, 27-31.

Siegel, G. (2008). Robert West: A personal reminiscence. ASHA Leader, 13, 9. 25.

Van Riper, C. (1981). An earlier history of ASHA. ASHA, 23, 855-858.

West, Gladys Vera (1971) Comments on West by his wife. ASHA, 13, 2, 57-60

Chronologically Arranged References of West's writings

West, R. (1919). Qualities of contest orations. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 5, 254-257.

West, R. (1919). Methods used in computing contest scores. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 5, 319-333.

West, R. and Larsen, Helen (1921). Some statistical investigations in the field of speech. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 7, 375-382.

West, R. W. (1924). Purposive speaking; a college text book for courses in public speaking. New York: The Macmillan Company.

West, R. (1925). Notes on apparatus usable in the study of voice. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 11, 243-246.

West, R. (1925). The modern university and speech. American Speech, December,

West, R. (1926).The nature of vocal sounds. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 12, 244-295.

West, R. W. (1926). Diagnosis of disorders of speech; a clinical manual of methods apparatus. Madison, Wis.,: H.C. Netherwood Printing Co.

West, R. (1928). The nature of the glottal closure for phonation, 14, 508-522.

West, R. (1929). A neurological test for stutterers. Journal of Neurology and Psychopathology, 38, 114-123.

West, R. & Nusbaum, E. (1929). Motor test for dysphemia. Quarterly Journal of Speech Education, 15, 469-479.

West, R. (Ed.). (1931). A symposium on stuttering. Proceedings of the American Speech Correction Association, 1, 119.

West, R. (1931). The phenomenology of stuttering. Proceedings of the American Speech Correction Association, 1, 1-6.

West, R. (Ed.) (1931). A symposium on stuttering. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 74, 321-326.

West, R. (1932). Similarities and differences in the treatment of stammering (stuttering) as practiced in America. Proceedings of the American Speech Correction Association, 2, 126-145.

West, R. (1933). Disorders of speech and voice. (2nd edition) Madison, WI: College Typing Co.

Kantner, C. & West, R. (1933). Phonetics: An introduction to the principles of phonetic science from the point of view of English speech. NY: Harper. (This is the first edition of what was to become a popular four-edition book.

West, R. (1934). Stuttering as a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Proceedings of the American Speech Correction Association, 4, 71-76.

West, R. (1935). A view of the larynx through a new stroboscope. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 21, 455-461.

West, R. (1935). Disorders of speech (3rd ed.). Madison, WI: College Typing Co.

West, R. (1935). Speech and hearing. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 21, 177-188.

West, R. (1936). Diagnosis of disorders of speech: A clinical manual of methods and apparatus. Madison, Wisconsin: College Typing Company, distributor.

West, R. (1936). Is stuttering abnormal? Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 31, 76-86.

West, R. W., & Kantner, C. E. (1936). Phonetics; an introduction to the principles of phonetic science from the point of view of English speech ( 3rd ed.). Madison, Wisconsin.

Kantner, Claude and West, R. (1936). An apologia of a new phonetic classification, Quarterly Journal of Speech 22, 221-235.

West, R. (1936e). Speech training as a preventive of neurosis. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 22, 614-617.

West, R., Kennedy, L., & Carr, A. (1937). The rehabilitation of speech: A textbook of diagnostic and corrective procedures. NY: Harper and Bros.

West, R. (1937b). Gentlemen: I stand corrected? 23, 402-409.

West, R. (1938). The function of the speech pathologist in studying cases of dysphonia. Journal of Speech Disorders, 3, 81-84.

West, R., Nelson, S., & Berry, M. (1939). The heredity of stuttering. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 25, 23-30.

West, R., & Gottdank, M. (1940). A bibliography for speech pathology. Madison, WI: College Typing Co.

West, R. (1940). A critique of the rationales of tests of hearing, 4, 19-24.

West, R. (1943). The pathology of stuttering. Nervous Child, 2, 96-106.

West, R. (1944). The prospect for speech education. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 30, 130-146.

West, R., Kennedy, L., & Carr, A. (1947). Aphasia in adults. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

West, R. W., Kennedy, L., Carr, A., & Backus, O. L. (1947). The rehabilitation of speech: A textbook of diagnostic and corrective procedures based upon a critical study of speech disorders ( Rev. ed.). New York: Harper.

West, R. (1948). Group testing of hearing. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 8, 279-283.

West, R. (1950). Rehabilitation of speech. Journal of Exceptional Children, 16, 165-172.

West, R., Ansberry, M., & Carr, A. (1957). The rehabilitation of speech; a textbook of diagnostic and corrective procedures based upon a critical study of speech disorders (3rd ed.). NY: Harper.

West, R. (1959). Speech science in the first half of the twentieth century. Speech Association of the Eastern States.

West, R., Ansberry, M., & Carr, A. (1957). The rehabilitation of speech: A textbook of diagnostic and corrective procedures based upon a critical study of speech disorders (3rd edition). NY Harper.

West, R. (1958). Ibi Fuistis. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 23, 26-30.

West, R. (1959). Speech science in the first half of the twentieth century. In Oliver Tarbell (Ed.) Re-establishing the speech profession: The first fifty years. (pp. 24-28) Speech Association of the Eastern States.

West, R. (1959). Speech science in the first half of the 20th century. In Robert Tarbell Oliver & Martin Bauer (Eds.). Reestablishing the speech profession: The first 50 years. (pp. 24-28) Speech Association of the Eastern United States.

Wischner, G., Brown, S., Sheehan, J., & West, R. (1959). Research needs in speech pathology and audiology: III Report of subcommittee on the problem of stuttering and problems of rate and fluency. Speech Monograph Supplement 5, 26-30.

West, R. (1960). The association in historical perspective. ASHA, 2, 8-11.

Kanter, C. & West, R. (1960). Phonetics: An introduction to the principles of phonetic science from the point of view of English speech. NY: Harper.

Wischner, G., Brown, S., Sheehan, J., & West, R. (1959). Research needs in speech pathology and audiology: III Report of subcommittee on the problem of stuttering and problems of rate and fluency. Speech Monograph Supplement 5, 26-30.

West Robert (1961). Review of Robert Hejna’s: Speech Disorders and Nondirective Therapy: Client-Centered Counseling and Play Therapy. The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 74, No. 4, p. 664.

West, R.(1962) Childhood aphasia, Proceedings of a conference co-sponsored by the California Society for Crippled Children and Adults. Stanford University School of Medicine and California Society for Crippled Children and Adults.

West, R. (1966). An historical review of the American literature in speech pathology. In R. W. Rieber & R. S. Brubaker (Eds.), Speech pathology: An international study of the science (pp. 24-41). Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co.

West, R. & Ansberry, M. (1968). The rehabilitation of speech: A textbook of diagnostic and corrective procedures based upon a critical study of speech disorders (4th ed). NY: Harper & Row.

West, R. (Ed.) (1968). Russian translations on speech and hearing. Washington, D.C.: American Speech and Hearing Association.