Congrats to the 2020 Scholarship Award Winners

The American Academy of Audiology Foundation’s mission is to promote philanthropy in support of public awareness, research, and education in audiology and hearing and balance science.

Offering a variety of scholarships to students pursuing degrees in audiology is one way in which the Foundation fulfills its mission to support education. The Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of its scholarship programs in 2020.

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Sadanand Singh Memorial Scholarship

The Sadanand Singh Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a minority and/or international student who shows exceptional promise in audiology research. The scholarship was established to honor Dr. Sadanand Singh, an educator, scientist, publisher, and philanthropist, to celebrate his dedication to research and the next generation of hearing scientists.

The 2020 scholarship award of $500 was presented to Leslie Zhen from the University of Pittsburgh. Leslie is a fourth-year PhD student whose area of interest is auditory perceptual learning.

 

 

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Judith Blumsack Scholarship

The Judith Blumsack Scholarship is awarded to a student who demonstrates outstanding clinical skills and who shows promise in terms of clinical research and service to the professional community and/or the community at large. Dr. Blumsack was on the faculty at Auburn University and a former member of the AAA Foundation Board of Trustees. She retired in 2014, at which time students, colleagues, family, and friends came together to create a $500 scholarship in her name.

The 2020 Judith Blumsack Scholarship winner was Maddie Olson from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Maddie is a fourth-year AuD student whose interest is hearing research. She is particularly interested in working with patients who are potential candidates for or are recipients of cochlear implants.

 

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Continued Achievement Scholarships

The Continued Achievement Scholarships, sponsored by AudiologyOnline, are awarded to students who show exceptional promise in providing outstanding patient care as clinical audiologists. This scholarship program provides a $2,000 award for two students each year.

In 2020, these scholarships were awarded to Meredith Braza from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rhonda Labib from the University of the Pacific.

Meredith Braza  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Rhonda Labib University of the Pacific

Meredith is a third-year AuD student who has an interest in conducting clinical research in pediatric audiologic assessment.

Rhonda is a second-year AuD student who has a passion for alleviating the cultural, economic, and societal barriers that stand in between an individual and getting the help they need.  

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Jerry Northern Scholarships in Pediatric Audiology

The Jerry Northern Scholarship in Pediatric Audiology, generously funded by Dr. Jerry Northern, is awarded to students who show exceptional promise as clinical audiologists with a focus on the specialty of pediatric audiology. Winners of this scholarship program receive $10,000 and a $500 stipend to attend the Academy’s annual conference.

Kendall Carroll Vanderbilt University	Arielle Darvin         Vanderbilt University	Lauren O’Neil University of Wisconsin—Madison	Sarah Pupa University of Pittsburgh
Caitlin Sapp University of Iowa	Kyli Schultz  The University of Texas at Austin	Delphanie Wu Vanderbilt University

The 2020 recipients are Kendall Carroll from Vanderbilt University; Arielle Darvin from Vanderbilt University; Lauren O’Neil from the University of Wisconsin—Madison; Sara Pupa from the University of Pittsburgh; Caitlin Sapp from the University of Iowa; Kyli Schultz from the University of Texas at Austin; and Delphanie Wu from Vanderbilt University. Their biographies may be read online here.

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The AAA Foundation will accept applications for the Judith Blumsack Scholarship, the Sadanand Singh Memorial Scholarship, the Continued Achievement Scholarships, the Empowering Students Scholarships, the Improving the Conversation Scholarships, and the Jerry Northern Scholarships in Pediatric Audiology for the 2021–2022 academic year beginning January 15, 2021.

The application deadline is April 30, 2021, for all scholarships except for the Empowering Students Scholarships, the Improving the Conversation Scholarships, and the Jerry Northern Scholarships in Pediatric Audiology, which is May 31, 2021.

Learn more