Academy Announces Resignation of Executive Director

By Catherine Palmer, PhD, Academy President

(September, 2020)

Tanya Tolpegin, MBA, CAE, executive director of the American Academy of Audiology, will be leaving her position after six years of dedicated service.

Ms. Tolpegin reported that “After six years of leading the Academy, I will step down as the executive director in early 2021. This is a planned transition that will ensure the Academy’s work, spearheaded by great volunteer leaders and an amazing staff, can continue its strong momentum. It has been my pleasure to serve as the Academy’s executive director.”

During Ms. Tolpegin’s tenure, she has worked in concert with volunteer leadership to reach new and exciting milestones including:

• Legislative partnership among all audiology professional organizations with active legislation in congressional consideration 
• Partnership with the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) to bring innovative education and training to the AAA Conference with the launch of the HearTECH Expo 
• Widespread growth in volunteer engagement in our new governance structure, with over 500 new volunteer positions created in the last four years 
• Strong student membership growth to drive change in the future of the field 
• Innovative programming to support our private practice members 
• A solid financial foundation to weather COVID-19 and to help our members in unprecedented times with expanded digital learning opportunities 
• Expanded recognition of the field of audiology with over $9.7 million in media placement value through public relations outreach 
• Development of a robust new digital platform to recognize audiology in consumer search for hearing health care 

The Board of Directors, volunteer leadership, staff, and members are truly sorry to say good-bye to Ms. Tolpegin but also appreciate the strong position she is leaving the Academy in during unprecedented times.  Not surprisingly Ms. Tolpegin has planned her departure to ensure that a smooth transition can take place allowing for all of the critical work in progress to continue without disruption. 

Dr. Sarah Sydlowski is chairing the search committee that will be recruiting and identifying the Academy’s next outstanding executive director. The Academy is fortunate to have had Ms. Tolpegin’s guidance over the past six years and we know she will have great success in her next position.

Review the job description. The full job announcement and application opening will be forthcoming.