Upon receiving his Ph.D. from UCLA, Professor Chin Woo Kim arrived at the University of Illinois and established the Phonetics Lab in 1967. As in other labs established by students of Peter Ladefoged, research in the Illinois Phonetics Lab dealt with articulation, acoustics, and physiology using the latest instrumental techniques. Over fifty years later, we foster that same tradition.
In Fall 2007 Professor Ryan Shosted (a student of John Ohala, who was also a student of Peter Ladefoged) was hired as Assistant Professor of Linguistics and immediately began serving as the Director of the Phonetics Lab. Beginning on October 25, 2007 a major renovation project saw the recarpeting, repainting, and refurnishing of the lab. The sound booth remained in the same position it had occupied for at least 40 years. The computing and audio recording facilities were modernized and aerodynamic equipment was acquired for the first time.
The lab was reopened to the public on November 14, 2007 and a formal open house was held on March 6, 2008. At this point, the facility was officially renamed the "Illinois Phonetics & Phonology Lab". Professor Shosted's Speech Aerodynamics Lab was housed in a small space next to G90 during this period.
Since 1967 the lab has been housed in G90 LCLB. However, with increased demand for the recording facilities and a proliferation of experimental techniques and instruments in phonetics and phonology, it became necessary for the lab to expand in size. In 2010, the lab was expanded to include an Articulatory Phonetics "wing", now housed in G84. This expansion includes a double-walled audiometric booth where EPG, ultrasound, and aerodynamic data can be collected.
In 2024, the lab was officially named the Chin-Woo Kim Phonetics Laboratory to recognize Dr. Kim's many contributions to the program.
