Nivardo is a rising 2^nd year graduate student in the communication sciences and disorders (COSD) master’s program. He grew up in Rappahannock County, Virginia and received his bachelor’s degree in COSD from the University of Virginia. Nivardo is the 2021 recipient of the James E. Nicely Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. James E. Nicely is a Professor Emeritus of Communications Sciences and Disorders and when notified Nivardo was this year's recipient he said:

“Congratulations and best wishes to Nivardo being named this year’s recipient of my scholarship. It was established in 2018 to assist COSD graduate students in their educational and research endeavors. I am delighted to know that another person will soon be making contributions to the field of speech pathology and that my scholarship played a minor role. “

After graduation, Nivardo hopes to work in a medical setting and is interested in working with individuals with traumatic brain injury, aphasia, dysphagia, and neurocognitive disorders. He feels the most fulfilling thing about a career in speech-language pathology is working with clients and making their day better by making them laugh or smile. He is also interested in vocal paralysis research and would like to research this area further as a clinician. In his free time, Nivardo likes to workout at the gym and learn about investing and business pursuits. In the next 5-10 years he sees himself working in a hospital and possibly starting a private practice in northern Virginia. 

Amy received her associate’s degree from Virginia Western Community College. She studied communication sciences and disorders at James Madison University (bachelor’s degree) and earned her master’s degree from Radford University in 2000. She recently earned a Doctorate of Health Sciences with a concentration in healthcare leadership through Radford University Carilion (2020).  She has worked as an SLP in many settings including the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), pediatric floor, early intervention, outpatient, radiology, craniofacial clinic, feeding clinic, and well born nursery. She has a specialty in pediatric dysphagia and was asked to co-teach the graduate dysphagia course with Terri Shelor in the Spring 2021 semester. Amy said she loved working one on one with the students during their final oral exam and looks forward to engaging with students more in-person in the future. She is currently a director at Carilion Children’s supporting the pediatric primary care sites, the child development clinic, the pediatric behavioral health department, ambulatory social workers, and the pediatric inpatient and outpatient therapy teams. She is an advocate for student learning. She has had many students shadow her in the NICU and has supported student externships within her leadership role at Carilion Children’s. She also is an instructor at Virginia Tech Carilion and supports medical students/residents and provides lectures.  She has a fabulous husband, 2 kids (14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son) and 3 dogs. In her free time, she loves Zumba and outdoor activities.