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Memoir
Donald J. Sharf
Regent's Proceedings 1227
Regent's Proceedings 1227
Donald J. Sharf, Professor of Education and Speech Science in the School of Education, and Professor of Communication in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, retired from active faculty status on May 31, 1987.
Professor Sharf received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in 1951 and 1952, respectively, from Wayne State University, and his Ph.D. degree in 1958 from The University of Michigan. After completing his dissertation on "The Intelligibility of Reiterated Speech", he became assistant editor for the complete revision of pronunciations for Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language at the G&C Merriam Company. In 1961 he joined the State University of New York at Buffalo as an assistant professor of speech and speech science. He was appointed to the faculty of The University of Michigan in 1964 as an assistant professor of speech and speech science. He was promoted to associate professor in 1967 and to professor in 1973.
Professor Sharf provided considerable service to the University and to national scientific organizations. He was the acting director of the speech and hearing science program from 1974-77. He served on many university committees, as well as on committees of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, the Acoustical Society, and the American Association of Phonetic Sciences.
An internationally recognized researcher and scholar, Professor Sharf is respected and known for his work in phonetics and speech perception. He has published numerous articles, presented many papers at scientific meetings, and is currently completing a phonetic textbook. As a leader in the field of speech and hearing sciences, he has served as assistant editor of The Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, as an editorial consultant for the Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, and as the editor of The University of Michigan Speech and Hearing Science Research Reports. He was a charter member of the American Association of Phonetic Sciences. In addition to this research and service, Professor Sharf was an outstanding teacher.
The Regents now salute Donald J. Sharf for his many contributions by naming him Professor Emeritus of Education and Speech Science and of Communication.