WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 9, 2014 – The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) recently named Ann Geers, Ph.D., and Jean Sachar Moog, M.S., LSLS Cert. AVEd, as the 2014 recipients of the AG Bell Volta Award. Geers and Moog were jointly selected for this prestigious honor because of their outstanding and extensive collaboration and contributions to the research and the body of knowledge about the impact of listening and spoken language on the education of the deaf.
The Volta Award is given to individuals and/or organizations that have made a significant contribution to increasing public awareness of the challenges and potential of people with hearing loss. Geers and Moog received their awards at a reception at the Washington University School of Medicine on May 1, 2014.
“AG Bell is honored to bestow this award in recognition of the outstanding contributions of Ann Geers and Jean Sachar Moog in advancing the field of listening and spoken language for individuals with hearing loss. Their research spans all areas of the field: from designing assessment measures for communication, language, speech perception and production, to language and literacy, to developing instructional strategies,” said AG Bell president Donald M. Goldberg, Ph.D., CCC-A/SLP, FAAA, LSLS Cert. AVT.
“Their joint work has strengthened research methodologies and statistical analysis in the field, and has moved the profession toward evidence-based practice,” added Susan Lenihan, Ph.D., CED, who serves on the AG Bell board of directors.
Geers is research professor at the Callier Center for Advanced Hearing Research in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and at the University of Texas at Dallas and in the Dallas Cochlear Implant Program at the Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. For more than 20 years she was Director of Clinical Services and Head of the Center for Applied Research in Childhood Deafness at Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Mo. In addition to publishing more than 100 articles and book chapters on the speech, language, cognitive and academic development of deaf children, Geers has developed and published tests of speech perception, speech production, language and intelligence. Her current work focuses on auditory, speech, language and academic/social development in children who receive cochlear implants in infancy and preschool.
Moog has been in the field of deaf education for over 45 years. She received a master’s degree in Speech and Hearing and is a certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS®). Moog is internationally renowned for her work in the education of deaf and hard of hearing children to develop listening and spoken language. She has developed assessment and rehabilitation procedures for children with hearing losses and has developed 10 evaluation instruments that have been translated into many languages and employed worldwide by educators, audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Moog is the Founding Director of the Moog Center for Deaf Education in St. Louis, Mo. Over the past 10 years she has helped establish eight Certified Moog Programs, seven in the United States and one in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Geers and Moog originally collaborated as colleagues at Central Institute for the Deaf (Center for Applied Research in Childhood Deafness) in the 1970s and 1980s. Although Geers moved to the University of Texas at Dallas in 2002, and Moog founded the first Moog Center in 1996, the two continued to work together, and design and carry out research projects to this day. Their impact on the field of listening and spoken language education for children who are deaf and hard of hearing is immeasurable.
About the AG Bell Association
The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) helps families, health care providers and education professionals understand childhood hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. Through advocacy, education and financial aid, AG Bell helps to ensure that every child and adult with hearing loss has the opportunity to listen, talk and thrive. With chapters located in the United States and a network of international affiliates, AG Bell supports its mission: Advancing Listening and Spoken Language for Individuals Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Visit ListeningandSpokenLanguage.org.
