Master of Communication
An animal rescue coordinator, a Girl Scout troop leader, an expert in 11 languages and a gardening and beadwork enthusiast: Associate Professor Sonia Manuel-Dupont’s diverse array of interests and abilities are worth noting.
Add in the fact that she is a professor of communicative disorders and deaf education, civil and environmental engineering and English at Utah State University.
Manuel-Dupont has been the recipient of innumerable awards throughout her career, including 1997 Utah Carnegie professor of the year, and most recently, Mortar Board Top Professor in 2002.
“My family and I have been in Logan 23 years, and I don’t envision us leaving,” she said. “We are here to stay.”
So what do communicative disorders and deaf education, civil and environmental engineering and English have in common? At USU, the answer is clear: Manuel-Dupont is an integral part of all three diverse departments.
However, according to Manuel-Dupont, her teaching is not the only common thread among such varied studies.
“Communication is the link between these three departments,” she said. “On a basic level, it comes down to language. The main key is clearly language.”
She said she got her bachelor’s degree in general linguistics, and her master’s and doctorate degrees in applied linguistics at the University of Kentucky. It was during school that she was required to learn 11 different languages.
“I was required to learn three languages for my bachelor’s degree, three more for my master’s and five for my doctorate degree,” she said. “They range from typically-learned languages like German, French and Spanish to my specialization in Native American languages.”
She said she grew very interested in the Native American culture when she began working with the people during college.
“I took a class with a professor working with a Native American tribe near the university,” she said. “He ended up needing a research assistant and I need a job, so things worked out quite nicely.”
She said she quickly learned to love the people and the stories they would tell about their lives, and continued studying Native American tribes for several years.
She is currently teaching courses in all three departments, ranging from linguistics, phonology and language science to non-biased assessment of non-English languages and technical and professional engineering communication.
Although her wide array of specialties are enough to keep anyone fully occupied, Manuel-Dupont finds time for all her other abilities.
“I have a Girl Scout troop ranging in age from 4 to 17 years old,” she said. “I love working with the girls because every age is so different. It is very interesting to watch them grow up.”
With two teenage children living at home and an active Girl Scout troop, she shows a lot of love for children. Her love of animals is also made equally clear.
“My family and I participate in animal rescue. Right now we have 52 cats in our house,” she said. “We do a lot of work with PetSmart and animal rescue groups, and I think it is great for my kids to have that sense of service.”
“Fifty-two cats is definitely our limit, though,” she said. “I don’t know what I am going to do with all of them when my kids leave for college.”
On top of scouting and rescuing animals, she enjoys gardening in the summer and jewelry beading with her daughter in the winter months.
“We like to do a lot of hiking, bike riding and camping when the weather is nice,” she said. “We are here in Utah because of the outdoor activities and we love it.”
Manuel-Dupont’s students overwhelmingly agree she is one of the most selfless, enthusiastic professors they have ever come in contact with. More than one student said they have never heard of anyone who dislikes her.
“She is just so fun. You know that she has a million things going on, and most people would be stressed out of their minds,” Nancy Berry, a junior majoring in communicative disorders, said. “But she just seems to take it in stride. She makes jokes, reads childrens’ books in class that apply to the lesson and brings in treats. She is fun to be around which makes it fun to learn.”
Richard Douglas Lemon, a junior majoring in communicative disorders, added that she is enjoyable and easy to get along with.
“She makes class exciting and I want to attend,” Lemon said. “She is able to create a great learning environment.”
James Blair, professor and department head of the communicative disorders program, said “Dr. Manuel-Dupont is a person who generally says ‘yes’ to requests that are made for her. She is a person you can trust to do what she says she will do. She is always prepared, always effective and a person you can rely on.”
-lexiek@cc.usu.edu
Professor Sonia Manuel-Dupont discusses her involvement with the animal rescue program. She has 52 cats, many of which she has helped through the program. (Photo by Michael Sharp)