By: Teja Pritchard 

Paul Kileny, alumnus of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will be performing with the alumni band, “Broad Band,” during the Wendell Johnson Commemorative Event on Aug 2.  

Kileny earned his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1978 and served as a professor and academic program director of audiology at the University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine. In 2019, he was honored as the distinguished alumnus by CSD.  

Learn more about Kileny’s time at CSD, his band, and what the WenJo commemoration means to him in this Q&A. 

How does it feel to be back performing with the "Broad Band" at such a significant commemorative event for WenJo and CSD? 

This is a very meaningful event, especially for those of us who spent time at WenJo in the mid to late 70s. The building was only several years old and was state-of-the-art, including classrooms, research labs, animal care facilities, clinic, an auditorium, and an anechoic chamber. The band started with Steve Otto and me, and we practiced in the anechoic chamber. Later, Diana Van Duesen, Frank Cirrin, and I formed the current band along with associate professor emeritus, Michael Karnell.  

Playing with the Broad Band is always a pleasure and fun, and to have the chance to perform at this transitional moment with my super talented, and fun bandmates, is very meaningful. The Broad Band goes back a long way, but now, it is an honor to help celebrate a new era and will play Iowa-themed songs with original lyrics. Some of the audience will be familiar with these songs from previous alumni reunions we played at.

Can you tell us about the band? How did the group get together, and what is it like playing music with fellow alumni? 

With respect to the other members, I would say that the main talent is audiologist Diana Van Duesen, our lead vocalist, who can sing an audiology textbook and make it sound great. Frank Cirrin, who happens to be her husband, is a talented guitarist and vocalist, PhD speech-language pathologist (SLP). Our bass guitarist, who will not play with us at this event, was Michael Karnell, who was also incredibly talented. 

We all met at Iowa, first played separately, but got together many years ago, initially for a special reunion, and played at the Tyler Octagonal Barn. We played covers and produced a collection of original Iowa and CSD-themed songs we all contributed to. For instance, the “House of the Rising Sun,” which we will perform at the event, became “Wendell’s House” or “Iowa Rising.” 

Beyond the music, what are you most looking forward to about reconnecting with the CSD community at this farewell celebration for WenJo? 

My occasional visits back to Iowa City are always special. I am looking forward to seeing old friends and colleagues I have not seen for some time and reminiscing about our time together at Iowa. We were all truly fortunate to have had very close-knit relationships with lots of iconic social events involving faculty and students. 

I am very appreciative of the program for shaping my career, and it is bittersweet to see the building go; there was so much knowledge and innovation associated with it. However, I am looking forward to touring the beautiful new building that the program will share. This is a new opportunity. 

What is your favorite CSD memory from your time as a student at Iowa? 

I have many, but passing the comps—the first obstacle to a PhD—and celebrating at George’s Buffet is a great memory.  

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

The CSD program at Iowa is one of the most special in the U.S., associated with the establishment of ASHA among other distinctions. But for me personally, it was a welcoming and supportive place for a graduate student who came from Israel with a family. Unlike other programs in the U.S. that treated foreign students differently, I faced the same expectations of performance, and opportunities including, importantly funding, which was not available for foreign students at other institutions at that time. It did not matter who you were, where you came from, if you performed well, you got recognition and were rewarded. 

Now, 47 years post-PhD, I still love my field and try to stay active. At times, I still ask myself when trying to solve a problem related to a clinical case or a research project, “How would one of my Iowa professors solve this issue?”