Sally Epstein Shaywitz, M.D., Doctor of Science
Some scientists discover knowledge, some transmit it, some apply it. You have brilliantly done all three. With the latest clinical and brain imaging techniques you discovered the causes, identifiers, and best treatments of dyslexia. The cause, you found, was disruption in lower-back portions of the brain. It could be identified even before the age of reading by listening to a child’s early language. And early detection became even more vital once you showed that daily instruction — in the letters and groups of letters that represent word sounds — led not only to higher reading scores but to the development of new neural pathways in the disrupted part of the brain. You have made this sophisticated research accessible to parents and educators through your book Overcoming Dyslexia. At the same time you have identified people whose poor reading resulted not from brain disruption but from disadvantaged educational settings that could be eliminated with proper public policy. The result of your work is that the future for each of the one in five children and adults who struggle to read should now be filled with hope.
I hereby declare you recipient of the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, entitled to all the rights, honors, and privileges appertaining thereto.
June 5, 2005