Jerry L. Northern, Ph.D.

Jerry Northern is Professor Emeritus at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine in Denver, Colorado. He is President of the Colorado Hearing Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors of the Marion Downs Center in Denver. Dr. Northern retired from the faculty of at University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1996 after 26 years at the University Hospital as Professor of Otolaryngology and Director of Audiology Clinical Services. He was the corporate Vice-President of Professional Services for HearUSA from 1996-2006, and served as Director of Pediatric Audiology for Starkey Hearing Laboratories from 2008 - 2010.

Dr. Northern is a native of Denver, Colorado where he was raised by his deaf grandparents and grew up using American Sign Language as a second language. He received a BA degree in Experimental Psychology from Colorado College in 1962, holds Master's Degrees from Gallaudet University of Washington, DC (MS, 1963) and the University of Denver (MA, 1964) and earned his PhD in Audiology at the University of Colorado (Boulder) in 1966. He served in the US Army Medical Services Corps during the Viet Nam Conflict from 1966 - 1968 and continued in civilian status as the Assistant Director of the US Army Audiology and Speech Pathology Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center through 1970.

His professional activities have included clinical practice, teaching, medical-legal consultation, research activities, as well as extensive writing and lecturing. A prolific author, he has written, edited and co-authored more than a dozen textbooks including several reprinted in multiple editions and translated into foreign language editions. His textbooks are widely used in colleges and universities and include Hearing in Children (6th Edition, 2014), Hearing Disorders (3rd Edition, 1996), Probe Microphone Measurements: Hearing Aid Selection and Assessment (1992), and Infants and Hearing (1996). He has written more than 35 chapters in other textbooks and authored more than 65 scientific journal articles. Dr. Northern created Seminars in Hearing and served as editor-in-chief from 1975-2000. He is known nationally and internationally for his efforts on behalf of children with hearing loss.

Dr. Northern is a Founding Member of the American Academy of Audiology and served the organization's third President. Northern is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a Past-President of the Colorado Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He initiated and organized the Military Audiology Society in 1969. Northern has been recognized with numerous honors including the Outstanding Career Achievement Award from his alma mater, Colorado College, the Outstanding Clinical Achievement in Human Communication Sciences & Disorders for Colorado from ASHA, a Service Recognition Award from the American Medical Association for his work in South Viet Nam, and two Distinguished Service Awards and a Presidential Citation from the American Academy of Audiology for his significant contributions to the profession of audiology. He served the American Academy of Audiology as Editor/Publisher of Audiology Today for 15 years and as Editor-in-Chief of their website at www.audiology.org until 2008. In 2003, he received the Honors Career in Hearing Award from the American Academy in recognition of his "distinguished career in research, teaching and clinical service and his worldwide contributions to the profession of Audiology." In 2010, the Colorado Academy of Audiology recognized him with their Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, Northern was inducted into the East Denver High School Heritage Hall in recognition of his unique and outstanding career. In 2017, he received the Legacy Award from the Marion Downs Center (Denver) for his contributions to the Center for more than 45 years.

Dr. Northern travels extensively and served as a consultant for audiology practice issues on nearly every continent working in nearly 30 different countries, i.e., South Viet Nam, China, India, Japan, South Africa, Panama, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and New Zealand, Mongolia and throughout Europe. He served as a consultant to a wide variety of commercial firms, publishers and government agencies, and has served on numerous national policy-making committees and task forces. Today, he remains active and involved as President of the Colorado Hearing Foundation and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Swiss-based "Hear the World Foundation."

For pleasure, Dr. Northern enjoys adventure travel and is an avid mountain climber, hiker and skier. He has been on two expeditions to the Himalayas in Nepal, trekked the Tour de Mt. Blanc in Europe, and climbed Mts. Rainer, Whitney, Kilimanjaro and summited more than 40 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks. He is married to his wife, Deborah, and they share the pleasures of four children and eight grandchildren.