Page 31 - October 2010

Acoustical News
Elaine Moran
Acoustical Society of America Melville, New York 11747
Emily Tobey
Emily Tobey receives award from ASHA
The American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA) has announced plans to award its presti- gious Honors of the Association to Emily Tobey for her pioneering research and academic leadership. Out of more than 140,000 ASHA members, only 200 have been awarded the Honors of the Association. The award will be presented to Dr. Tobey in November in Philadelphia.
Emily Tobey holds the Nelle C. Johnston Chair in Communication Disorders in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) and conducts much of her research in the Callier Center for Communication Disorders. In selecting her for its highest honor, ASHA cited her study of speech pro- duction by cochlear implant users, her groundbreaking studies in oral rehabil- itation and brain imaging, and her many leadership roles. She has made some of the most important contribu- tions concerning the longitudinal effects of cochlear implantation on children during her decades-long focus on speech production and oral lan- guage development in young people.
Her work has been continuously fund- ed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other agencies since 1975, and she currently holds three active NIH grants.
Dr. Tobey earned a bachelor’s degree at New Mexico State University and a master's degree at Louisiana State, both in speech-language pathology. After earning her PhD from City University of New York in 1981, she became part of the team that helped organize the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trials for cochlear implants. The prosthetic device was considered extremely controversial at the time, with no consensus of accept- ance by the scientific community. She soon became involved in the design and execution of national FDA clinical trials and was among the first investigators to be funded by the NIH to conduct inves- tigations in deaf individuals receiving the devices. Her activities resulted in FDA approval of the devices for implan- tation in children in 1992 and their cur- rent use worldwide.
Emily Tobey’s recent research has expanded to include using the latest imaging techniques to study changes in brain function in adults who receive cochlear implants. She works directly on research efforts not only at UT Dallas, but also with John Hopkins School of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center and many other insti- tutions around the world.
Besides her direct involvement in research, Tobey also has helped raise awareness and encourage progress by taking on leadership and administra- tive posts with a variety of top profes- sional organizations, such as ASHA and the Acoustical Society of America. She is a Fellow of the ASA and served as chair of the Technical Committee on Speech Communication (1998-2001).
Dr. Tobey also serves as associate provost at UT Dallas, assisting with faculty development, program review, diversity and community engagement.
Teaching has always been a top priority for Tobey, and she has launched the careers of many graduate students involved in the field of speech, lan- guage and hearing. Before joining UT Dallas, she was a professor at Louisiana State University Medical Center.
Kelly Benoit-Bird (Photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)
Kelly Benoit-Bird named a MacArthur Fellow
Kelly Benoit-Bird, Associate Professor at Oregon State University, has been named one of 23 2010 MacArthur Fellows. The MacArthur Fellowship is a five-year grant to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future. The fellowship is designed to provide recipients with the flexibility to pursue their creative activities in the absence of specific obligations or reporting requirements. There are no limits on age or area of activity. Individuals cannot apply for this award; they must be nominated. The stipend for the MacArthur Fellowship is currently set at $500,000, paid in quarterly installments over five years.
Kelly Benoit-Bird received a B.S. (1998) from Brown University and a Ph.D. (2003) from the University of
30 Acoustics Today, October 2010