It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bob Quesal, a cherished graduate of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, who earned his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1984. Bob was a distinguished clinician and researcher whose career was defined by his dedication to advancing the field of stuttering therapy and research. 

Bob completed his BA and MA in speech and hearing science at Indiana University before moving to Iowa in 1979 to begin his doctoral studies with Dean Williams, a pioneer in stuttering therapy and research. Bob’s desire to focus on stuttering was deeply personal: he himself was a stutterer, just as Williams was. 

This connection fueled his lifelong commitment to understanding the lived experiences of people who stutter and advocating that researchers and speech-language pathologists prioritize the psychosocial aspects of stuttering. He highlighted this in his first solo publication, "Stuttering Research: Have We Forgotten the Stutterer” (1989), which came full circle decades later with one of his final papers, "Empathy: Perhaps the Most Important 'E' in EBP” (2010). Bob’s co-authorship of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES) remains one of his hallmark contributions, providing a gold standard measure for understanding the multifaceted impact of stuttering on individuals’ lives. 

Near the end of his doctoral studies at Iowa, Bob began his first faculty appointment at the University of North Dakota (1983-1986). He then relocated to the State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh (1986-1991), before settling at Western Illinois University where he served for the remainder of his career, including many years as their Program Director. Bob also served in leadership roles for numerous stuttering organizations. He was a Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and his contributions to the field were formally recognized when he became ASHA Fellow in 2009. In addition to his many professional accomplishments, Bob was widely admired for his wit, humility, kindness, and unapologetic stance against fluency-normative, dehumanizing rhetoric and clinical practices for people who stutter.   

The department was honored to welcome Bob back to campus in November 2024 as part of our yearlong Wendell Johnson Commemoration Series, where he delivered a quintessentially “Bob” reflection on his time at Iowa and how it shaped him personally and professionally. He ended, “It’s hard to express how much this building and this department have meant to me for most of my adult life and it has been an honor to come back.” That visit was a special moment for our department, and we remain deeply grateful to have shared that time with him and his wife, Donna.

Bob leaves behind a legacy of compassion, innovation, and excellence in stuttering research and therapy. He will be deeply missed, and his contributions to our field and the lives he touched will continue to resonate for generations to come. You can read his full obituary online.