Edie R. Hapner, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, professor of Otolaryngology, has been appointed to the George W. Barber Jr., Foundation Professorship in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.
Hapner joined the Department of Otolaryngology in 2020 to co-direct the UAB Voice Center and lead Speech and Hearing services.
Her career has spanned over 30 years. She has established three internationally distinguished inter-professional voice centers at Emory University, University of Southern California, and now UAB. Hapner has mentored more than 30 speech-language pathologists and laryngologists as fellows into the specialized area of voice and upper airway disorders. Her research in the aging voice is internationally recognized as changing the clinical methodology of care in both laryngology and speech-language pathology for this population. She is recognized as the developer of the largest head and neck cancer screening in the United States by providing early detection of head and neck cancer to an at-risk population and supported this with scholarly achievements. Her mentorship and scholarship awarded her with a fellowship in the American Laryngology Association, American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, and the National Academy of Practice.
George W. Barber, Jr., established the George W. Barber, Jr., Foundation Professorship in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 1993. Mr. Barber is the former chairman of Barber Dairies, the largest dairy farm in Alabama founded by his father, and is CEO of Barber Companies. His real estate development has impacted all corners of the state. His passion for motorcycles and motorsports led to the creation of the Barber Motorsports Park and Museum, which is home of the largest motorcycle collection in the world and a source of millions of dollars for the local economy. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2014. His generosity to the UAB Department of Otolaryngology is seen in the establishment of this professorship, an endowed Barber lectureship, and the initial funding of the Julius N Hicks Endowed Professorship.