Donald Kaplan, professor emeritus of speech communication who served the university for 18 years, died Jan. 16. He was 97.
Kaplan joined Cal State Fullerton in 1964 as a faculty member in speech pathology and was the first director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic that is part of the College of Communication’s Communicative Disorders program. He served as the clinic’s director through 1975 and retired from the university in 1982. For his contributions to the field of communicative disorders, including setting up the first speech therapy programs in four Orange County school districts and the first clinical speech and hearing program at CSUF, Kaplan was recognized as a fellow of the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1986.
Kaplan received his bachelor’s degree from UCLA and his master’s degree from Cal State Long Beach.
He is survived by his wife, Clara.
All are welcome to attend the Celebration of Life ceremony for Kaplan on Feb. 12, 2-4 p.m. in the Commons Building of Morningside Retirement Community, 800 Morningside Drive, Fullerton.