Ira Hirsh (February 22, 1922 – January 12, 2010) was an American psychologist who made early contributions to the field of

audiology Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , ''-logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing various ...

. He was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Audiology at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

(WUSTL) and served as president of the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary orga ...

Biography

Born in New York, Hirsh earned an undergraduate degree from the New York State College for Teachers. While earning a master's degree at the Northwestern University School of Speech, he worked for a

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

station in Chicago as a staff announcer and radio drama actor. After serving in the

US Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, Hirsh earned a Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he conducted research at the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory (PAL) under

Stanley Smith Stevens Stanley Smith Stevens (November 4, 1906 – January 18, 1973) was an American psychologist who founded Harvard's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, studying psychoacoustics, and he is credited with the introduction of Stevens's power law. Stevens author ...

. He took a position at the PAL before joining the

Central Institute for the Deaf Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) is a school for the deaf that teaches students using listening and spoken language, also known as the auditory-oral approach. The school is located in St. Louis, Missouri. CID is affiliated with Washington Univ ...

(CID). He remained affiliated with CID until 1983 and from, but he held academic posts at WUSTL at the same time, including professor of psychology and dean of arts and sciences. Hirsh wrote a well-known audiology textbook, ''The Measurement of Hearing'' (1952), and was widely published in professional journals. He made important research observations about the brain's processing of speech over various time intervals. He was president of the

(ASA) in 1967–68 and received the

ASA Gold Medal The ASA Gold Medal is an annual award presented by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) to individuals in recognition of outstanding contributions to acoustics. The Gold Medal was first presented in 1954 and is the highest award of the ASA. Pa ...

in 1992. Hirsh was inducted into the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1979. In their spare time, Hirsh and his wife Shirley participated in ice dancing. Hirsh sang in the choir at the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis and was a member of the

Saint Louis Chamber Chorus The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus is a large chamber choir, numbering 45 – 50 mixed voices, that presents seasons of six programs performed in St. Louis, Missouri, in venues of historic and/or architectural note. It generally performs without inst ...

and the Bach Society of St. Louis. Upon his wife's 2004 death, Hirsh had been married for 61 years. He had four children. Hirsh died in 2010 in a convalescent center in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

References

External links

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I. J. Hirsh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsh, Ira 1922 births 2010 deaths American psychologists Audiologists Acoustical Society of America University at Albany, SUNY alumni Northwestern University School of Communication alumni Harvard University alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II