Once mute student delivers Iowa State College of Business commencement address

Jan 24, 2012

When Kevin Neff stood at the lectern in his cap and gown on Friday, Dec. 16, he greeted his fellow Iowa State University College of Business graduates with a new voice as their commencement speaker. For three-and-a-half years, Neff had no voice. He caught a virus in the fall of 2007 that had rendered him mute. Doctors couldn't help him, until he met with Dr. Claudio Milstein at the Cleveland Clinic's Head and Neck Institute this past May. Within an hour, Dr. Milstein largely helped restore Neff's voice. And he used it to tell his fellow graduates to expect change and keep priorities straight during his address at ISU's Hilton Coliseum.