Vinton G. Cerf, Ph.D., Widely Known as One of the Fathers of the Internet, Will Receive the 2009 HLAA National Access Award

Nashville, June 18, 2009: Vinton G. Cerf, Ph.D., will receive the 2009 HLAA National Access Award during the Opening Session of the Hearing Loss Association of America Convention 2009 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The award is given to those who have provided or significantly improved communication access for people with hearing loss.

Dr. Cerf is the co-designer with Robert E. Kahn of the protocols and basic architecture of the Internet for which they received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given in the United States, and were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Their invention, the Internet, is a growing part of the online lives of over 1.5 billion people around the world.

Widely known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet," Dr. Cerf is vice president and "Chief Internet Evangelist" for Google in Herndon, Virginia, and is also working on the Interplanetary Internet together with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is developing a new standard to communicate from planet to planet, using radio/laser communications that are highly tolerant to signal degradation.

HLAA Executive Director Brenda Battat said: "As a result of his groundbreaking work, the Internet and e-mail has opened a whole new world and way of communicating for people with hearing loss. In an amazing and successful way, people with hearing loss have been brought back into the mainstream and have access to information in unprecedented ways and are able to participate more fully in all areas of everyday living. HLAA is honored to give the award to Dr. Cerf."

In a pre-convention statement, Dr. Cerf said: "I will talk about technology and hearing assistance including the role of mobile, Internet-enabled devices. The Internet is becoming a pervasive infrastructure and it can be put to good use assisting people with hearing loss to function in the hearing world more efficiently."

The HLAA Convention 2009 will be held in Nashville, June 18-21, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Attendees can register on site and the Exhibit Hall and Trade Show is free for people to see the latest in hearing assistive technology and services.

Read more about Dr. Cerf and his wife, Sigrid, in the Hearing Loss Magazine interview by Barbara Chertok

About the Hearing Loss Association of America

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), founded in 1979, opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. HLAA publishes the bimonthly Hearing Loss Magazine, holds annual conventions, Walk4Hearing, and more. Information can be found at www.hearingloss.org/. The national headquarters is located at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20184. HLAA has chapters and state organizations across the country.