Dave Fabry: Thank you for taking the time with us today, Fred Bess, PhD. You were a founding member of the Academy, and our second president after Dr. Jim Jerger. You had been very active with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and had a burgeoning professional role at the Bill Wilkerson Center at Vanderbilt, with your teaching and research career there. What was your reasons for focusing your energies on the formation of a new professional organization?
We recently had the opportunity to visit with Shelly Chadha, MBBS, MS, PhD, medical officer, WHO Program for Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Loss. Dr. Chadha is a native of India. She was trained as an otolaryngologist at the University of Delhi, India, and subsequently undertook doctoral studies in public health at the same university.
Time conspires against us. It hardly feels like more than a decade has passed since I edited my first issue of Audiology Today (AT) in July 2008. In that issue, we interviewed Marlee Matlin about a variety of topics, including her status as a role model for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community; and Peter Scheifele, director of the Facility for the Education and Training of Canine Hearing and Laboratory for Animal Bioacoustics (FETCH LAB) at the University of Cincinnati.
In the classic movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy realizes in order to reach the Emerald City, she must first travel through the dark and unfamiliar Enchanted Forest. Worried that they will be attacked, the Tinman predicts the forest will be filled mostly with “lions and tigers and bears.”
DF: Thank you, Dr. Pessis, for taking the time to speak with us, and I must say that I am impressed that you are working out! Can you tell us a little bit more about the meeting that you will chair this summer?
On Founder’s Day (January 30), it is only fitting to review a new memoir, A Life in Audiology (ISBN 978-1-94488-368-3) authored by the Academy’s Founder, Dr. James Jerger. Dr. Jerger credits Rich Tyler with suggesting the idea for the book, which serves as a wonderful account of his life and career in audiology.
