(Reston, Va. - March 3) - Sharing the stage as Keynote Speakers at AudiologyNOW! will be Dr. James Jerger and John Sweeney. Dr. Jerger, an integral figure in audiology and The American Academy of Audiology, will share his insight on the changes that have taken place in the annual meeting of the Academy and the profession, as well as his insights for our future. Sweeney—a world leader in workplace innovation—will follow with his own unique insights for a thought-provoking morning of learning and fun. General Assembly will be held from 10-11:30am on Thursday, April 6 in the Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium.
World renown as one of the early pioneers of Audiology, Dr. James Jerger is the Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, at The University of Texas / Dallas. His current research interests focus on auditory processing disorders in both children and elderly persons. He recently established the Texas Auditory Processing Disorder Laboratory at UTD. He teaches audiology students at the UTD Callier Center for Communication Disorders and supervises doctoral students in the applied cognition and neuroscience program of the School of Human Development.
In addition to being the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology since 1989, Dr. Jerger is also one of the Founding Fathers of the Academy and its first President. Since Dr. Jerger has been affiliated with the Academy from its inception, he has a unique view on the evolution the Academy, its annual meetings and the profession of audiology in general.
An engaging speaker with a knack for improvisational comedy, John Sweeny has performed more than 1,500 live shows for the Brave New Workshop and Second City Communications in Chicago and more than 500 corporate shows (including over fifty performances for Fortune 100 companies including Microsoft, General Mills and Target). He is the owner of the Brave New Workshop—the nation's oldest satirical comedy theatre, has created a world-renown school for improvisation, and appeared in dozens of television commercials.
In 2005 Sweeney published his first book, Innovation at the Speed of Laughter: 8 Secrets to World Class Idea Generation. Later that year, John's second book, The Art of the Laugh: A Handbook for Sketch Writers, Actors and Directors hit stores nationwide.
Sweeney was named one of the "40 under 40" to watch in the Twin Cities business community and has been featured in Forbes, Investor's Business Daily, Executive Traveler magazines, and a variety of other publications. You may have even glimpsed Sweeney in television commercials or clips on ESPN or the "Today Show".
AudiologyNOW!, an experience in knowledge, science and technology, is the premier annual event of, by and for audiologists. AudiologyNOW! 2006, April 5-8 in Minneapolis, MN will be comprised of exciting Featured Sessions, Symposia, Exhibitor courses, Focus and Discussion Groups, Research Pods, Poster Presentations and a Student Research Forum. For more information, please visit www.audiologyNOW.org.
The American Academy of Audiology is the world's largest professional organization of, by and for audiologists. With an active membership of more than 10,000 audiologists, the Academy promotes quality hearing and balance care by advancing the profession of audiology through leadership, advocacy, education, public awareness and support of research. To learn more about the audiology profession and how audiologists are helping the 28 million Americans who have hearing loss, please visit the Academy's web site at www.audiology.org
To arrange for a press pass to this event, please contact Sydney Hawthorne Davis at sdavis@audiology.org or call 1(800) 222-2336, ext. 1033.
