Tertia “Abby” Jeppson, '15, M.A. '17, Honored With Outstanding Young Alumna Award
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet

Tertia "Abby" Jeppson is the 2024 Outstanding Young Alumna Award recipient. (Photo: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab)

Early in her career, research speech-language pathologist Tertia “Abby” Jeppson, ’15, M.A. ’17, became an advocate and leader in the field of speech-language pathology.

Jeppson is involved in various professional, civic, and volunteer organizations, in addition to serving as co-leader of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Action (I.D.E.A.) Council’s Health Equity Subcommittee at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (SRAlab) where she began working as a clinical fellow and staff speech-language pathologist (SLP) in 2018. She worked her way up to senior SLP in 2021 before transitioning to the Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment under Dr. Leora R. Cherney as a research SLP in 2022. 

Participating in research activities with a primary emphasis on aphasia, a language disorder that impacts all modalities of language without affecting intelligence following an acquired brain injury, Jeppson administers comprehensive assessments to participants for a longitudinal study. In addition to working on a grant-funded study, she also acts as a research mentor on internal grant applications with clinical staff and facilitates weekly aphasia conversation groups and book club sessions. 

Following the social injustice events of 2020 and her lived experience as a healthcare provider of patients in predominantly underserved communities on Chicago's South Side, Jeppson sought out an educational program that was applicable to her professional role while also addressing disparities. She earned a graduate certificate in health disparities research from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2022 and quickly identified practical ways to translate her knowledge from the classroom to the organization in her role with the I.D.E.A. Council and as a member of the SLP Cultural Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Task Force.

Jeppson has grown social and cultural awareness and humility. Creating and completing a preliminary data analysis for a quality improvement survey, she examined the knowledge, perspectives, and confidence of healthcare professionals in the DayRehab and outpatient levels of care related to social determinants of health (SDOH). This survey is the Health Equity Subcommittee's first step in a process to implement and sustain SDOH screening processes across the organization.

“I’ve witnessed healthcare disparities, and I’ve come to realize how important health equity is and that we must champion it,” Jeppson said. “I work to display and highlight cultural humility with a desire to do better for our patients, especially when barriers are present.”

With a passion for health equity and early success in her speech-language pathology career, the NIU Alumni Association has named Jeppson as the recipient of the 2024 NIU Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumna Award. Jeppson was also awarded the 2024 Outstanding Speech-Language Pathology Alumni Award from the School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders and is honored to be recognized by her alma mater for her contributions to her field. 

Jeppson is a first-generation college student. Her mother, Tina, was a single mother raising three children, and they lived together with Jeppson's grandparents. Jeppson said she knew she wanted to be a Huskie but first attended Illinois Valley Community College. Transferring to NIU, she took Neuroscience of Communication and Associated Behaviors with Dr. Jamie Mayer, whom she has been involved in research with and published an article in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

“NIU is very special to me, and without the knowledge and opportunities I had in undergrad and grad school, I would not be where I am today,” Jeppson said. “I am grateful and truly love my career, which I never would have found if not for NIU and Dr. Mayer. I developed a deep appreciation for the brain and was able to participate in Dr. Mayer’s research as an undergraduate. Her mentorship in clinical adult, medical-based speech-language pathology and research were, and continue to be, influential in my professional growth. I am honored to be a published researcher alongside my NIU mentor.”

As a student, Jeppson received several awards. In 2014, she was recognized as NIU’s Student Lincoln Laureate, a prestigious honor that credits the efforts and accomplishments of one top graduating student each year. Jeppson graduated in 2015 with a double major in speech-language pathology and rehabilitation services and a double minor in psychology and deafness rehabilitation. She received her M.A. in communicative disorders with a specialization in speech-language pathology from NIU in 2017.

Since graduating, Jeppson has volunteered to speak to undergraduate students in courses and at student organizations’ events. She has been the presenting author of oral presentations at several national conferences and symposiums in her field and was invited to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, as a guest lecturer. Jeppson is actively involved in the Northwestern Bioethics Clinical Scholars Program and the National Black Association of Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH) Cultural Humility Task Force's Ambassador Program.

In 2021, Jeppson was awarded the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Distinguished Early Career Professional (ECP) certificate, recognizing her impact at the local, state, and/or national level through her leadership, volunteer, and advocacy work. In the same year, she received the inaugural Speech-Language Pathologist Early Career Achievement Award from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for her dedication to her field and organization. She also furthered her clinical education and became a Certified Brain Injury Specialist from the Brain Injury Association of America.

To finish an already packed year, Jeppson received the 2021-2022 James Brown IV Fellowship at SRAlab. During the yearlong research fellowship, Jeppson worked with research mentor Elissa Larkin to implement tailored interdisciplinary communication partner training for physical and occupational therapists. At the same time, Jeppson became a certified trainer in Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia (SCA™) and continues to facilitate training. 

She says NIU catapulted her confidence, which has led her to involvement in these organizations and the awards she has received.

“At NIU, I found confidence in myself that I did not have previously with academics and extracurricular activities,” Jeppson said. “Despite outwardly presenting confident, I was very self-critical. Since then, I have learned self-love and kindness that I also extend to others. I hope my legacy is predominantly based on characteristics of kindness and respect toward diversity, humility and equity.”