Bio

Dr. Bentler is widely acknowledged as a foremost authority in the field of hearing aid amplification. She holds a bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree from the University of Iowa. She is currently a professor and chair of the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa. During her career, she has worked diligently to advance the profession of audiology through service on committees and task forces, and mentoring students in audiology. Dr. Bentler attracts outstanding individuals from around the globe as students and research collaborators are eager to work with her to develop hearing aid research to the next level. 

Dr. Bentler’s research findings have had international impact on the fitting of hearing aids for children and adults. Her scholarly accomplishments and quantity of work is most impressive. In just the past year, she has had eight peer-reviewed articles published, five more articles in process, one textbook published, one textbook under process, three international presentations, four national meeting presentations along with several state and local talks. She is an editorial consultant for four major audiology journals and completed numerous activities as the director/principal researcher on three federally funded research projects. She also serves on numerous federal and organizational standards committees and has been intimately involved developing best practice guidelines related to the measurement, function, and fitting of hearing aids. 

Dr. Bentler’s early work set standards for completeness and thoroughness in longitudinal studies of hearing aid outcomes over a period of 12 months following hearing aid delivery. Her publications regarding acoustic transfer functions provided correction factors that have been adopted into international standards and are currently the basis of most hearing aid fitting software programs. For more than a decade she published a continuing series of studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of various hearing aid special features which includes directional technology, digital noise reduction, and frequency lowering strategies. Her cumulative studies in loudness measures and their clinical applications have become a standard of practice in hearing aid programming and verification procedures. Her current research continues to include such challenging topics around rehabilitative outcomes for children with hearing impairment, and the relationship between brain responses and hearing aid success in adults. 

Dr. Bentler is known for her scholarly insight, creativity, and seminal contributions in the field of amplification. Her research as impacted and influenced the design, evaluation, and utilization of personal amplification. An extraordinary career in research and untiring service to our profession, clearly demonstrate the very spirit for which the Academy’s Jerger Award in Research in Audiology was established.