College of Health Solutions scholarship honors speech and hearing professor
Members of the Case family perform at a 2023 benefit concert at Urban District in Phoenix to raise funds for the College of Health Solutions' James L. Case Speech and Hearing Science Scholarship. Photo courtesy of the Case family
James Case loved teaching.
Specifically, he loved helping develop future practitioners and teachers in the field of speech-language pathology as part of Arizona State University’s former Department of Speech and Hearing for 31 years.
His son, Jeff Case, said it was appropriate that the James Case Speech and Hearing Scholarship would go toward furthering his late father’s goal.
“It’s a great tribute and a great way to carry his legacy on,” Jeff Case said. “I think he would have loved to know that’s how he’s being remembered, through a scholarship that brings new talent and new passion and drive into the profession he loved.”
James Case taught classes, conducted research and provided clinical services and training in the area of voice and cranio-facial disorders. He died in January 2006, and after his death, his family, friends and colleagues endowed a scholarship for students entering the Master of Science in communication disorders program.
The deadline to apply for the Case Scholarship and most other College of Health Solutions scholarships is March 1.
Case loved the university life, his son said, and he embraced the ASU culture. He could have made more money as a private practitioner, but instead chose to be an educator.
“Early on, he recognized he had the opportunity to choose from different paths,” Jeff Case said. “One was to truly be a professor and live the university life, which was not necessarily the more lucrative pursuit. Or he could delve into the private sector and make a lot of money.”
He said his father maintained a small private practice that he ran out of the family home, but he loved teaching.
“That was his passion,” Jeff Case said. “That’s what he considered to be his calling, not just teaching, but teaching future teachers and practitioners.”
James Case also loved music and was involved in choir and other musical pursuits while a student at Weber State University. He also wrote songs, including special songs for his children.
As a tribute to their father and as a fundraiser for the scholarship, the “musical talent” in the family organized a benefit concert held on April 15, 2023, at Urban District in Phoenix.
The concert featured the music of Lauren Case, James Case’s granddaughter, other family musicians and a full band.
“Tons of people from the college came; tons of friends and family came,” Jeff Case said. “More than 120 people attended, and I think we raised about $16,000. It was a fun night for us, singing songs that he loved and he knew.”
To learn more and contribute to James Case's legacy, visit the ASU Foundation for A New American University's website.
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