Faculty and Staff
Get to know the individuals in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.
Full-Time Faculty & Graduate/Undergraduate Advisors
To make an appointment with any of the graduate/undergraduate advisors, please contact the the SLHS Office in Burk Hall 114 by calling (415) 338-1001 or sending an email to slhsinfo@sfsu.edu.
Laura Epstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Department Chair, Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor, School Internship Coordinator
Burk Hall 115
(415) 405-2170
Teresa Gray, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Associate Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor, Medical Internship Coordinator
(415) 338-1058
Burk Hall 102
Marcia Raggio, Ph.D., CCC-AU
Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor
(415) 338-7653
Burk Hall 104
Nancy B. Robinson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP,
Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor
(415) 338-1031
Burk Hall 519
Gloria Soto, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor, Graduate College of Education Dean of Research, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor
(415) 338-1757
Burk Hall 271
Anusha Sundarrajan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP,
Assistant Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor
(415) 338-7652
Burk Hall 101
Betty Yu, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Professor, Undergraduate/Graduate Advisor, Thesis Coordinator
(415) 338-3429
Burk Hall 105
Administrative Coordinator
Mallorie Desimone, B.A.
Academic Office & Clinic Coordinator
(415) 338-1001
Burk Hall 114
Mallorie Desimone graduated from SF State in May 2007 with her bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies. While a student, she worked in the Credential Services Teacher Preparation Center. She is currently the SLHS department administrative office coordinator.
Lecturers & Clinical Instructors
Jim Cartwright, M.F.A, M.S., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
(415) 338-1001
Jim Cartwright is devoted to exploring the intersections between speech therapy, social justice, creativity, coaching, and counseling. He has a B.A. in Literature, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and an M.S. in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences( called “Communication Disorders” at the time) from this program back in 1996. Before becoming a lecturer at SF State, he worked for the San Francisco Public Schools for 10 years, then for a free community clinic for 16 years, where he was also the director and taught after-school creative writing classes for tweens with learning disabilities. He lives in San Francisco with his husband Jorge and is an author and a singer-songwriter. If you’d like to learn more about him, his personal website is https://www.jimcartwright.org/.
Oneida Chi, M.S., CCC-SLP (They/them)
Clinical Instructor
(415) 375-0279
Burk Hall 114
Oneida Chi is a first generation, Chinese American genderqueer speech-language pathologist who grew up in San Francisco and is an SF State alum. They worked in home health and public schools throughout the Bay Area for the past 15 years and supervised several interns and Clinical Fellows. They started their private practice to assist friends and community members to explore their voices in a healthy way that is congruent with their gender identity and expression. At SF State, they supervise the Gender Affirming Voice Clinic. Additionally, they work in early intervention and at the Gender Health Clinic in Santa Clara.
Chris Focht, Au.D., CCC-A, FAAA
Lecturer
(415) 338-1001
Burk Hall 103
Dr. Chris Focht is a clinical and dispensing audiologist for the Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California (San Francisco). A graduate of the SF State SLHS department (1988), he was in private practice for over 20 years and has had extensive experience working in educational settings. Dr. Focht teaches courses in Audiology, Audiometry, and Aural Rehabilitation. He is also an academic and clinical preceptor for graduate students who are in the last year of their doctoral studies. Chris specializes in geriatric audiology and is often asked to speak at conventions and professional meetings. He is married, with two grown children, and his hobbies include singing, baseball, and playing with 'Phoebe', his three-year-old cocker-poodle therapy dog who also comes to class and serves as his 'teaching assistant.'
Flo Kimmerling, M.S., CCC-SLP
Lecturer and Clinical Instructor
(415) 338-1001
Burk Hall 146
Flo Kimmerling's lifelong fascination with language began as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, followed by a master's degree in psycholinguistics and reading at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. After serving as a high school english teacher and reading specialist for several years, she worked as a teacher of "minimally brain damaged teenagers" (what learning disabled children were called in the 70's) and then completed her M.S. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at SF State. In addition to teaching at SF State, she works privately in the area of language-learning disorders and serves on the staff at the Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders.
Katherine Seto, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Clinical Instructor
(415) 338-1001
Burk Hall 146
Katherine Seto received her bachelor's degree in english from UC Berkeley in 1986 and master's degree in Speech Pathology from SF State in 1990. She has enjoyed working with the adult/geriatric neurogenic population for nearly 20 years. She is familliar with acute care, inpatient rehab, outpatient rehab, home health, and long term care settings. Ms. Seto is currently employed at Pacifica Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and has spent several years training Speech Pathology interns from SF Bay Area Universities. She is a big "foodie' and loves dogs. Ms. Seto lives in Foster City with her husband, three children, two dogs, and a tortoise.
Sara Spencer, M.S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Instructor
(415) 338-1001
Burk Hall 146
Sara Spencer has worked as a speech pathologist in hospitals, schools and private practice for over 30 years. She has been supervising at SF State for many of those years. She was the recipient of the 2010 CSHA Award for Outstanding Achievement. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two sons.