Rita Purcell-Robertson Scholarship ($4,000)

Rita Purcell-Robertson

Rita received her BS in Speech Pathology and Audiology from James Madison University, her MS in Speech Pathology from The Pennsylvania State University, and her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia. She was the President of Speech Language Hearing Association of Virginia (1998-2000). She held positions at Albuquerque Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Charlottesville City Schools, Longwood University, George Mason University, University of Phoenix and Marymount University and Loudon County Schools. She was an advocate for fellow speech- language pathologist colleagues as well as those preparing to be the next generation of SLPs through her work as a clinical supervisor, college professor, school clinician, as well as a mentor to students and new professionals through her service to the profession through ASHA, SHAV, and the CDF of VA. Rita was the recipient of numerous awards including LCPS: Special Education Advisory Committee Educator of the Year (2013), the Martha Mullins-Callender Award from the Communication Disorders Foundation of Virginia (2015) and James Madison University's inaugural Communication Sciences and Disorders Clinical Educator Award (2015). Rita encouraged people to go outside their comfort zone with her saying, “No slacking.”