Haskins Laboratories: News and Events
Yale-UConn Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Inaugural Research Seminar at UConn-Waterbury
In Memoriam: Katherine S. Harris (1925 - 2024)
Katherine S. Harris, a pioneer and leader in speech science and psychology, and the former Vice President of Haskins Laboratories, died on March 15, 2024. She was a Distinguished Professor Emerita in Speech and Hearing at the CUNY Graduate Center and a former President of the Acoustical Society of America.
See her obituary.
An “In Memoriam” service and celebration of her life and career was held at the CUNY Graduate Center on July 15, 2024. It was attended by many Haskins people, past and present.
More information can be found on her In Memoriam page.
Nabin Koirala named as BIRC Director.
Nabin Koirala, Haskins researcher, and associate research scientist at the Yale Child Study Center, has been named as the new Director of the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC) at the University of Connecticut.
In Memoriam: Winifred Strange (d, Jan 25, 2024)
Winifred (“Pinky”) Strange, a pioneer in cross-language speech perception research, died on Jan. 25, 2025, after two battles with cancer. She was a Professor Emerita at CUNY’s Graduate Center. She received the Silver Medal of The Acoustical Society of America in 2008.
An “In Memoriam” service and celebration of her life and career was held at the CUNY Graduate Center on July 15, 2024. It was attended by many Haskins people, past and present.
More information can be found on her In Memoriam page.
In Memoriam: Emily Qi Wang ( - 2024)
A Celebration of Life for our dear friend and esteemed colleague, Dr. Emily Q. Wang, was held on July 20, 2024, at RUSH University in Chicago.
See Emily Wang’s In Memoriam page for more information.
ASY (Articulatory Synthesis) Demo
The legacy ASY Demo (articulatory synthesis) was added to this website on Jan. 24, 2024.
Philip Rubin news
In January, 2024, Philip Rubin, Chair of the Board of Haskins Laboratories, was named as President of Rothschild Wilder, a private foundation that supports social justice and ethics, science and innovation, the arts and humanities, and the preservation of popular culture artifacts.
See, also: On Dec. 12, 2023, Sage published an interview with Rubin in their S3: Social Science Space, called, "Philip Rubin: FABBS' Accidental Essential Man Linking Research and Policy".
Yale and Uconn announce the Haskins Global Literacy Hub to help improve literacy outcomes locally and globally.
University of Connecticut Waterbury is partnering with the Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center and UConn Global Affairs to form the Haskins Global Literacy Hub to help improve literacy outcomes locally and globally. The new partnership was first announced Tuesday, Apr. 23, 2024, during the second annual WISHfest at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. (See the story in the Republic-American.)
The Haskins Global Literacy Hub is a collaborative initiative focused on bridging the gap between basic scientific research and practical, global efforts to improve literacy. It operates as a multi-institutional network, with key centers at Yale University’s Child Study Center, led by Linda Mayes (referred to as the “Global Literacy Hub” at Yale), and at UConn Waterbury, led by Fumiko Hoeft, as well as UConn Storrs/Global, led by Dan Weiner (referred to as the “Haskins Global Literacy Hub” at UConn). With a global reach, the Hub promotes cross-cultural literacy research and educational outreach. The literacy hubs at Yale and UConn are unified under a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in April 2024, and continue to be led by Ben Powers, Maureen Lovett, and Jay Russell.
In parallel, Haskins Laboratories coexists with the Haskins Global Literacy Hub, operating under the same structure at both Yale and UConn with global institutional partners and researchers, and under the same MOU. It is co-led by Vince Gracco, Jay Rueckl, Nicole Landi, Fumiko Hoeft, and Ken Pugh. Haskins Laboratories has a long-standing interdisciplinary focus on speech, language, and reading, contributing to our understanding of the biological basis of language and literacy, from brain mechanisms to learning processes. The Labs are supported by Yale, UConn, and numerous grants, and host collaborative research projects and the Haskins Seminar Series.
Soon we will be requesting information related to:
1. Joining our LISTSERV: — a newly integrated Haskins Listserv operated by UConn; and
2. Information on how to continue Haskins Labs/Global Affiliate Scientist/Educator Status.
Stay tuned! More coming soon!!
Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars
“Dear friends,
The City of Waterbury and Captured Time Productions invite you and your friends to a free screening of Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars, filmed in our beloved city of Waterbury and directed by our very own Harvey Hubbel V. Join us on this unforgettable journey as he spends a year following a class of first graders who are learning to read using a controversial new literacy system. Along the way, he reveals the causes of illiteracy and exposes the individuals who are behind it. Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion with the Mayor, UConnW Campus Dean, and others. The official trailer can be found here.
To secure a seat, please register here. This event is free and open to the public. Though pre-registration is recommended, folks may walk-in to this event if space allows.
Thank you for your continuous support of Waterbury! Hopeville can't wait to come home!”
Inaugural Research Seminar hosted by UConn-Waterbury
The Reading Brain: Bilingual and Cross-Linguistic Perspectives on Child Literacy.
The first research seminar hosted by Yale Global Literacy Hub and UConn Global/Waterbury Haskins Global Literacy Hub was held on April 24, 2024, at UConn Waterbuy. The speakler was Prof. Ioulia Kovelman, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist specializing in child language and literacy development, with a focus on bilingual children who speak and read in typologically distinct languages like Spanish and Chinese. She investigates childhood bilingualism using neuroimaging techniques such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Her research examines the universal, language-specific, and bilingual influences on children's reading development and dyslexia.
The 13th International Seminar on Speech Production (ISSP 2024), took place in Autrans, France from May 13-17, 2024. 2 page abstracts were due on Dec. 15, 2023.
ISSP provides an interdisciplinary forum for researchers working on all aspects of speech production. Topics of interest include different aspects of speech production, including articulation, acoustics, neural substrates, motor control, disorders, and links to perception, communication, development, and language.
Richard Aslin elected to the British Academy
On July 18, 2024, Richard Aslin, Senior Research Scientist/Senior Lecturer at the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine, was elected an international member of the British Academy. Prior to joining the Child Study Center, he was a Senior Research Scientist at Haskins Laboratories. Here is the list of new fellows (which includes Catherine Snow and Eve Clark). This is a wonderful, and well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Dick!!
A special message from Hall of Fame coach, Jim Calhoun and Psychological Sciences Professor and UConn Waterbury Dean, Fumiko Hoeft, January, 2024
“At UConn, we are champions at everything we do.”
Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun and psychological sciences professor and UConn Waterbury Dean Fumiko Hoeft are the perfect examples of this mindset.
Coach Calhoun is passionate about student-athletes and cardiology research and patient care. Dean Hoeft is passionate about helping children with learning differences. Watch their story to learn more about how they champion these causes.
If you have any new, Haskins-related news, events, or publications that you would like featured or listed on this website, please contact us.
< CURRENT NEWS | 2023 | 2022 >