Leo Doerfler

Leo G. Doerfler (1919–2004) was the founder of the profession of audiology, the science of hearing and hearing disorders, in the early 1940s.

Supreme Court ruling The 1978 Supreme Court ruling in National Society of Professional Engineers versus the United States forced ASHA to lift its ban on dispensing, and Doerfler resumed being active in ASHA. In the 1980s, he fought to have ASHA recognize audiology as a separate profession from speech pathology, and later urged ASHA to endorse the AuD. He lost those battles at the time, but lived to see the association reverse its position on both issues.

Later life Doerfler helped establish the Audiology Co-Op, one of the earliest buying groups, and served as its first president and later chairman of its board. In 1988, he was one of the 31 audiologists who joined James Jerger, PhD, in founding the American Academy of Audiology (AAA).

In 1988, he and 24 other audiologists attended the ADA-sponsored Conference on Professional Education in Chicago, where the campaign for the professional doctorate truly began. Afterwards, he helped create a model curriculum for the AuD and served on the board of the Audiology Foundation of America.

Doerfler died on July 7, 2004 in Oyster Bay Cove, New York.

Recognition Doerfler received many honors and awards, including AAA's first "Career Award in Hearing" in 1994, and ADA's 1991 Wernick Award in recognition of outstanding educational contributions. ADA created the Leo G. Doerfler Award to honor excellence in clinical practice.