Louis M. DiCarlo Fund

Supports the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement

Dr. Louis M. DiCarlo was an audiologist and speech-language pathologist who spent his career helping children and war veterans. He held faculty and academic leadership roles in half a dozen educational institutions from Hawaii to New York. He conducted many important research studies, wrote three books and dozens of scientific and general interest articles, and presented papers in London and Italy. Early in his career, while living in Northampton, Massachusetts, Dr. DiCarlo founded the first public school class for deaf children in the U.S.

Dr. DiCarlo attended Union College in 1932 to study English and psychology. He later studied deaf education at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, and then went on to graduate school at Columbia University in New York. Dr. DiCarlo served as the director of special education for New Rochelle public schools. In 1947, he founded the department of speech and hearing science at Syracuse University, where he served as professor, director, and chairman. Until he retired in 1984, Dr. DiCarlo served as consultant at the Syracuse VA Medical Center, clinical professor at Upstate Medical Center, professor and dean at Ithaca College, professor emeritus at Syracuse University, and chief of audiology and speech pathology for the Veterans Administration. He was a recipient of the U.S. Meritorious Service Medal.

Dr. DiCarlo did not plan to become a communications sciences and disorders professional. He left high school to join the U.S. Calvary and serve as an orderly to George S. Patton. He was also a boxing champion, relay team runner, trick rider, New York state trooper, and a member of the award-winning Troop C Rough Riders. During the Depression, Dr. DiCarlo found jobs working at a playground, a garbage disposal plant, and with the city and county welfare departments in Schenectady, New York.

His interest in communication sciences and disorders began when he became the caseworker for a family with a deaf child. During World War II, Dr. DiCarlo served in the army as battalion sergeant major, treating soldiers deafened in battle. This later led to his important work at the Veterans Administration.

Dr. DiCarlo passed away on October 29, 1996, at the age of 93.

Past Recipients of the Louis M. DiCarlo Award

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