Page 46 - Winter 2009

Jean-Paul Leguoix and Paul Avan (on right)
Paul Avan received his Master’s degree in theoretical physics in Paris, France. He had the privilege of working for two years (1975-6) with Claude Cohen Tannoudji (Nobel Prize winner, 1997) on laser spectroscopy. But the sirens of life sciences were always calling and Paul moved from physics to biology. In 1984, while working as an engineer at the Laboratory of Audiology of the National Institute for the young deaf in Paris, he eventually earned a medical degree. It was at the Laboratory that Paul Avan met and worked for Jean-Paul Legouix who was its Director. He learned physiological acoustics from Jean-Paul, an excellent field for a physicist-turned physician who had become interested in the world of deaf people. Assistant profes- sor in Paris from 1988-92, associate professor in Clermont-Ferrand from 1992-5 then full professor since 1995, Paul Avan is currently working on cochlear physiol- ogy and mechanotransduction in the organ of Corti of mammals. His interest in otoacoustic emissions has led him to investigate their application for non-invasive monitoring of intracranial and labyrinthine pressure, and to design novel testing equipment. As a physician, he also practices audiological tests and fits cochlear implants in profoundly deaf patients.
ASA has learned of the passings of the following members:
Mack A. Breazeale Harold A. Conklin Gunnar Fant Bernard Hosten Gordon Raisbeck Edgar A.G. Shaw D. A. Thomas
Passings 45