National Recognition

National Recognition, Honors and Awards

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD FROM ASHA

In 1978, the then 68,000-member American Speech-Language-Hearing Association gave its highest award, the Distinguished Service Award, to the Stuttering Foundation of America for its 'dedication and effective contributions to the field of speech pathology.'

NCCD AWARD

In 1984, the founder and director of the Foundation, Malcolm Fraser, received the fourth annual National Council on Communicative Disorder's Distinguished Service Award for the Stuttering Foundation's national contribution to helping those who stutter.

In citing Fraser for the award, the NCCD, a council of 19 national organizations representing the communicatively disabled, recognized the Foundation's efforts in 'adding to stutterers', parents', students', clinicians', and the public's awareness and ability to deal constructively with communication disorders.'

HAMILTON COLLEGE HONORARY DEGREE

In 1989, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, presented Fraser with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters for his outstanding work on behalf of those who stutter.

VAN RIPER AWARD - AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION

Malcolm Fraser was honored posthumously with the Charles Van Riper Award, presented by actor James Earl Jones at the 16th annual NCCD Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., September, 1997. Established by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1995, the Van Riper Award was given to Fraser for 'his outstanding commitment to people who stutter.'

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Jane Fraser received the prestigious Outstanding Contribution Award during the International Stuttering Association World Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on May 9, 2007. In presenting the award to Fraser, Melvin Hoffman of ISA said, 'No one has done more to further the cause of helping those who stutter.'

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

John Melendez

He is a talented musician, actor, and comedian. Listen to a podcast.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Bob Love

The late Bob Love dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.