Rate My Professor Mary Fagan

Mary K. Fagan is an Associate Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at Chapman University’s Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, a position she has held since her promotion from Assistant Professor in 2016. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Missouri, along with Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Speech Pathology and Audiology from San Diego State University. Her career includes serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Missouri from 2009 to 2016, where she directed the Infant Language and Cognitive Development Lab and held adjunct appointments in Psychological Sciences and Linguistics. Earlier roles encompass NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Indiana University School of Medicine from 2006 to 2009, Research Associate at Cardiff University from 2005 to 2006, and extensive clinical experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist from 1985 to 2000 at sites including Naval Medical Center San Diego, USNS MERCY, USMC Camp Pendleton, and Palomar Medical Center.

Dr. Fagan’s research interests center on infant vocalization, speech development, mother-infant interactions, vocabulary acquisition in hearing infants and those with cochlear implants, prelinguistic consonant production, and auditory feedback effects. She directs the Early Language and Cognitive Development Lab at Chapman and maintains a concurrent affiliation with the Center for Hearing Research at the University of California, Irvine. Key publications feature “Vocal imitation between mothers and their children with cochlear implants” (Infancy, 2020), “Vocal turn-taking between mothers and their children with cochlear implants” (Ear and Hearing, 2020), “What mothers do after infants vocalize: Implications for vocal development or word learning?” (Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2019), “Exploring in silence: Hearing and deaf infants explore objects differently before cochlear implantation” (Infancy, 2019), “Why repetition? Repetitive babbling, auditory feedback, and cochlear implantation” (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2015), and “Hearing experience and receptive vocabulary development in deaf children with cochlear implants” (Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2010). She has received the Chapman University Faculty Opportunity Fund award (2021) for studying the dynamics of mother-infant interactions in profound hearing loss, Crean College Pandemic Research Relief Award (2021), NIH/NICHD Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research (2018), NIH Competitive Loan Repayment Program awards (2007-2011), Mizzou Advantage Faculty Interdisciplinary Development Award (2014), and American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation Research Grant (2007).