Lee Edward Travis (June 23, 1896, Nebraska – October 10, 1987)[5] was one of the founding fathers of speech pathology in America.
[7] He attended Graceland College for three years[5] before transferring to the University of Iowa and obtaining his BA in 1922 and his MA in 1923, both in psychology.
[9] He finished his PhD in 1924 and was one of the first people in the world to receive a doctorate based on the new field of speech pathology.
[12] The organization was founded in Travis' home after he held a dinner party for attendees of a University of Iowa sponsored conference on speech in 1925.
He took a break from teaching during World War II to serve in the USAAF Medical Corp. As a lieutenant colonel, he was in charge of the psychological services of several hospitals in the European theater.