Beltone President Todd Murray, Ron Leavitt, and Beltone's Ken Laferle.

Beltone President Todd Murray, Ron Leavitt, AuD, and Beltone’s Ken LaFerle.

Beltone Electronics, Glenview, Ill, awarded the Larry Mauldin Award for Excellence in Education to Ron Leavitt, AuD, at its annual awards ceremony on March 27 at the AudiologyNOW! Convention in Orlando. The Mauldin Award is unique because honorees are nominated and selected by their industry peers.

Ron Leavitt, AuD, is presented the Larry Mauldin Award by Beltone's Ken LaFerle

Ron Leavitt, AuD, is presented the Larry Mauldin Award by Beltone’s Ken LaFerle.

“Beltone is proud to present this prestigious award to Dr Leavitt for his dedication and ongoing contributions to the field of audiology,” said Todd Murray, president of Beltone North America. “We are grateful for his commitment to improving the hearing care industry through continuing education, research and innovation.”

Dr Leavitt, a University of Arizona graduate with a Master’s Degree from the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, received his doctorate from the Arizona School of Health Sciences. With over 25 years of teaching experience at the University of Arizona, Western Oregon University, and Oregon State University, Dr Leavitt has helped develop opportunities in audiology education across the nation, and is a frequent contributor to The Hearing Review.

At Western Oregon University, he directed the Assistive Communication Device Project which provided continuing education opportunities for hearing healthcare professionals throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Dr. Leavitt also helped develop the audiology program at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis and founded the Oregon Association for Better Hearing, the largest consumer test group for hearing aid users in the US, which continues to educate hundreds of people with hearing loss throughout the Willamette Valley annually.

Dr Leavitt has continued his clinical and research work in the field as the Director of Audiology at Corvallis Hearing Center, which was awarded the Best of Hearing Healthcare Providers in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He won Best Audiologist in the Western US in 2012 and his research in hearing aid programming was identified as best of hearing aid research in 2012 at the American Academy of Audiology.  Dr Leavitt was also the winner of the Audioscan Hearing Aid Fitting Challenge in 2013, which was featured in November 2013 edition of The Hearing Review. He is also a musician and plays in a band, and his parents were avid trapshooting enthusiasts (his mother is in the Trapshooting Hall of Fame)—so he definitely knows the value of hearing conservation.

“I am honored to be the recipient of the Larry Mauldin award this year,” said Dr Leavitt. “It is very rewarding to be recognized by my peers as an educator, researcher and advocate within an industry that is such a significant part of my life.”

The Mauldin Award was created to honor the accomplishments of the late Larry Mauldin for his work and commitment to education in the field of audiology. His passion was to advance the knowledge of audiology and hearing aid fittings to as broad an audience as possible. Presented annually since 1999, the award is given to an industry leader committed to continuing education and unselfishly giving back to the profession, the community and the hearing impaired.

Source: Beltone Electronics