National Hearing Conservation Association

Executive Council Biographies

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			Elliott H. Berger, M.S. Elliott Berger is the senior scientist for auditory research at E-A-R/Aearo Company. For over 25 years he has studied hearing protection, hearing conservation, and related topics, and has presented his research in over 60 articles and textbook chapters. He chairs ANSI working group S12/WG11 on hearing protector attenuation and performance, is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, past-president of the National Hearing Conservation Association, fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and past-chair of its Noise Committee, a past board member of the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation, and the 1993 recipient of the National Hearing Conservation Association’s Outstanding Hearing Conservationist Award.
	Photo coming soon		Renee S. Bessette Renee S. Bessette is the Brand Manager for the Bacou-Dalloz Hearing Safety Group, managing worldwide marketing/communications for the Howard Leight earplug and Bilsom earmuff brands. She also coordinates Bacou-Dalloz’s hearing conservation training and education programs.
			Beth A. Cooper, PE INCE.Bd.Cert. Beth Cooper is an acoustical engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where she provides technical expertise and programmatic support for many of NASA’s hearing conservation and noise control programs. She also manages the development and promotion of the ATL’s unique multimedia training resources, which are used by thousands of hearing conservationists and noise control professionals. Ms. Cooper received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hartford in 1981 and a M.S. in Acoustics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1983. She is Board Certified in Noise Control Engineering by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE) and represented INCE on the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC). Ms. Cooper served as CAOHC’s Council Chair from 2003-2005 and contributed to the evolution of CAOHC’s certification and training programs for Hearing Conservation Program Professional Supervisors and Course Directors. Ms. Cooper is a frequently-requested presenter of innovative workshops and seminars on hearing loss prevention topics, with a special focus on use of multimedia presentation techniques and tools for effective training. She is the author of more than 50 such papers, presentations, and articles.
			Brian Fligor, ScD, CCC-A, FAAA With an undergraduate background in biomedical engineering and a brief stint as an aspiring rock guitarist in a local Boston band lead Dr. Fligor to pursue a career in Audiology. After acknowledging much greater affinity for people than computers, and finding an appalling rate of acceptance that noise-induced hearing loss “is just a fact of life” for serious musicians, Dr. Fligor found himself at Boston University pursing a doctoral degree in a clinical research track in Audiology. After completing his clinical fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston in 2002, he stayed on as a post-doctoral fellow, seeing patients and conducting research studies on the acquired causes of hearing loss. Publications included a study of output levels of headphones and the potential risk to hearing from their use, and identification of specific risk factors for hearing loss in a select group of critically ill newborns. Upon completion of the post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Fligor was honored with a promotion to Director of Diagnostic Audiology at Children’s Hospital Boston. His most recent challenge has been promoting Audiology through the popular media, given the swell of interest in promoting responsible use of iPods and other mp3 player devices. Television appearances have included NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News and print interviews on this topic have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Rolling Stone Magazine.
			D. Bruce Kirchner, MD, MPH Dr. Kirchner is the Global Medical Leader for Procter & Gamble’s Household Care business, with responsibilities in assuring the occupational health of 30,000 employees in manufacturing and research. Additionally, he is the system owner for hearing conservation across the company. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1995 after 21 years of service in which he was involved in hearing conservation in field units, as well as industrial operations. Dr. Kirchner has a B.A. in English from the Virginia Military Institute, an M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and an MPH from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Preventive Medicine & Public Health. He is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
			Deanna Meinke Dr. Deanna Meinke has practiced hearing loss prevention as a clinician, a consultant, an educator and a researcher. She currently is an Assistant Professor of Audiology and Speech-Language Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO. Dr. Meinke is board certified in audiology by the American Board of Audiology, clinically certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology. Additionally, she serves as a hearing consultant for the State of Colorado, industry, equipment manufacturers and hearing conservation service providers. Her research interests include distortion product otoacoustic emissions and the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss across the lifespan. Most recently, Dr. Meinke is serving as President-Elect for the National Hearing Conservation Association and chairs the NHCA Task Force on Children and Noise.
			Brian Myers Brian Myers is the Vice-President for Hearing Conservation Products within Aearo Technologies. They design, make and market the E-A-R and Peltor lines of hearing protectors. Brian has been involved with the E-A-R line for nearly twenty years and has supported NHCA over that time as a workshop faculty member, through financial sponsorships, and most importantly by promoting NHCA as a worthwhile organization for practicing hearing conservationists when he speaks with them. Brian has also been active in the Industrial Safety Equipment Association’s Hearing Protection Product Group where he is currently this Group’s Chair. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.
			Rick Neitzel Rick works as a Research Scientist in the University of Washington (UW) Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist. He is also pursuing a PhD in Environmental and Occupational Hygiene at UW. He has previously served as NHCA Director of Communications and Treasurer, and sits on the Noise Committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. His research interests include quantitative and qualitative noise exposure assessment in occupational and non-occupational settings, development of effective hearing conservation interventions, and evaluation of hearing loss risk related to mass transit use.
			Timothy Rink Dr. Timothy Rink is the founder and chief executive of HTI, Inc., a corporation that has provided mobile, on-site audiometric testing, reporting and record keeping services to clients throughout North America since 1976. Tim holds an undergraduate degree from Capital University and master’s and doctoral degrees in audiology from The Ohio State University. Tim served on as the PSO delegate to the NHCA Executive Council n 1981 and on the Ad Hoc Committee for Audiometric Data Transfer. He is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, The Ohio Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a CAOHC course instructor.
			Theresa Y. Schulz, Ph.D., CPS/A Dr Theresa Schulz has been an active member of NHCA for almost 25 years, currently serving as Past-President. She is also the Past Chair of the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC), a Certified Professional Supervisor for Audiometric Monitoring (CPS/A), a certified member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and a fellow in the American Academy of Audiology. Theresa received her BS (1981) and MA (1983) degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and her PhD (l995) from Ohio State University. Theresa was nominated by the Air Force for the 2003 National Public Service Award and received the military's Outstanding Volunteer Medal in 2004 for her extensive work to prevent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) both in the military and in the public sector. Her new position as Manager of the Audiology Team at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory in Pittsburgh, PA brings her back to public service and continues her work to prevent NIHL.
			Carol Stephenson, Ph.D. Carol is a Social Psychologist and Branch Chief for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). She earned her doctorate in applied social psychology and has interests in education and training effectiveness, health communication issues, social marketing, and program evaluation. While she began her career at NIOSH in noise research, she currently directs a team of researchers investigating education and training interventions for many health and safety hazards in the workplace. Despite other issues like pandemic flu vying for her attention, her professional interests remain deeply rooted in hearing loss prevention programs. Recently her work has focused on the needs of young workers, aging workers, and small businesses. Carol is adjunct faculty at Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) where she teaches undergraduate and graduate psychology courses. She has also mentored Audiology graduate student capstone projects through Central Michigan University. Carol has been active in NHCA on various committees since 1989 when her section chief, Derek Dunn, encouraged her to join and take on an active role. As membership chair, she hopes to explore new ways to increase the value of NHCA membership and to expand opportunities for membership to a wider audience engaged in promoting hearing health. During leisure hours, Carol and her husband Mark raise and train bernese mountain dogs and dabble in amateur astronomy.
			Jennifer Tufts, Ph.D., CCC-A Dr. Jennifer Tufts is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Jennifer received her B.A. in music and mathematics from Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in audiology from Penn State University. She received postdoctoral research and clinical training at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. She also served briefly on the noise control board for the City of Takoma Park, MD. Currently, her research areas include hearing loss prevention and communication in noise for diverse populations, and the effects of hearing loss on music perception. She holds the Clinical Certificate of Competence in audiology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). In addition, she is a member of the Hearing Health panel for the Health Promotion in Schools of Music Project, headed by Dr. Kris Chesky, whose mission is to develop occupational health curricula in hearing health for post-secondary music schools and departments.
			Karen Wojdyla Karen Wojdyla is executive director of NHCA and president of Great Western Association Management, Inc., located in Greenwood Village, Colorado. NHCA and Great Western began their partnership in 1998. Karen has over 30 years of experience in the association management industry. She is a member and past president of the Colorado Society of Association Executives and a member of the American Society of Association Executives, National Association of Female Executives, and Business and Professional Women. She is also chair of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.