Eric Hunter, PhD, MS, BS
Eric Hunter serves as the Chairperson/DEO of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa, as well as Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Short Bio and Research focus
Eric J. Hunter, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. His research focuses on occupational voice use, particularly vocal health, fatigue, and recovery in teachers and other high-demand voice users. His work integrates speech acoustics, biomechanical modeling, and signal processing to understand how voices function and adapt in real-world environments. He has authored or coauthored over 115 peer-reviewed publications and collaborates widely across engineering, education, medicine, and the performing arts.
More than any other role, Dr. Hunter loves being a best friend to his incredible wife and a dad (and bad joke teller) to his three amazing children.
Scholarly Profile and Resources
Learn more about Eric's research impact via:
(Full publication list, funded projects, and student mentorship details are available through the links above.)
Expanded Bio
Eric J. Hunter’s work is grounded in a simple idea: to understand the voice, you must study it in the environments where it is actually used. This perspective has led him to focus on teachers and other professionals whose voices carry the demands of their work every day.
His path into voice science began in physics. As an undergraduate and master’s student at Brigham Young University, he studied acoustics and signal processing, completing work that explored how speech could be visually represented to support communication. That experience led him to speech and hearing science at the University of Iowa, where his doctoral research applied continuum mechanics to model vocal fold posturing. This combination of physical science and human communication continues to shape his approach.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Hunter has examined how voices respond to real-world demands—how much voice use is too much, why some individuals experience fatigue or injury while others do not, and how environments such as classrooms influence vocal behavior. His work integrates biomechanical modeling, acoustic analysis, large-scale voice monitoring, and field-based studies. A consistent theme across these efforts is that variability in voice is not simply noise, but a meaningful signal of how people adapt.
He spent more than a decade with the National Center for Voice and Speech, contributing to interdisciplinary research programs and serving as Deputy Executive Director. He later joined Michigan State University in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, where he progressed through faculty and leadership roles. He served as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and as Director of the Trifecta Initiative for Interdisciplinary Health Research, a collaboration spanning the Colleges of Nursing, Engineering, and Communication Arts and Sciences. In these roles, he focused on building interdisciplinary research capacity, mentoring faculty, and supporting collaborative initiatives across domains. He was also recognized as the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award recipient.
In 2023, Dr. Hunter returned to his alma mater to lead the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa as the Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences, as noted in university and departmental announcements. As department chair, he continues to support research, education, and clinical integration.
Mentorship and collaboration are central to his work. He approaches training as a shared process, helping students and trainees develop not only technical skills but also the ability to ask meaningful questions, work across disciplines, and contribute to a research team. His trainees have gone on to careers in academia, clinical practice, industry, and public-facing research.
Across research, leadership, and teaching, Dr. Hunter is motivated by a commitment to translation—connecting scientific insight to practical solutions that improve vocal health, communication, and quality of life. These themes are reflected in his University of Iowa Presidential Lecture, which highlights both his research trajectory and the broader history and impact of the department.
Selective Links:
UI's 42nd Presidential Lecture, video
Eric Hunter joining Iowa CSD
Midwest Voice
- Speech and Language
