Claire Penn (1951–2018) was a South African speech and language pathologist, and held the endowed chair of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and was a former senior research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council.
She attended the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), where she completed her bachelor's degree (cum laude) in Speech and Hearing in 1972.
She worked at Wits as clinical tutor from 1973 to 1976 before moving to England as a British council scholar.
[3] In 2008 Penn was named Shoprite Checkers / SABC 2 South Africa Woman of the Year for Science and Technology.
[4][5] In 2012, her visit and lecture on "Health Communication across Cultures: Some Perspectives from South Africa" was funded by Duke University.