Biography:

Marion P. Downs is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado School of Medicine where she spent more than 35 years providing clinical services to benefit patients with hearing impairments. She devoted her professional life to the promotion of early identification of hearing loss in newborns, infants and young children and helping those handicapped by hearing impairment to lead fulfilling lives. During her outstanding career at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Marion Downs initiated, developed and evaluated techniques for testing hearing in children and fitting them, some as young as a few weeks of age, with hearing aids. She was among the first to recognize the need for placing hearing aids as early as possible to help handicapped infants to hear speech and language and learn communication skills during their critical development years.

Dr. Downs pioneered the first infant hearing screening program in the United States in 1963 in Denver , CO . Since that time, she has been relentless in her pursuit to make the identification and management of hearing loss in infants and children an important medical and educational consideration and public health issue. Her success in bringing the importance of early identification of hearing loss to light has ultimately resulted in a current widespread national program, which makes newborn hearing screening a reality today in more than 40 states across the US and in numerous foreign countries.

Dr. Downs is an exemplary teacher who has lectured extensively throughout the United States and in more than fifteen foreign countries. She has published nearly 100 articles and books on various aspects of audiology, including serving as co-author of Hearing in Children, a successful textbook that underwent five editions between 1972 and 2004 and was translated into several foreign languages. Hearing in Children was the cornerstone for thousands of audiologists-in-training to learn how to evaluate and manage children with hearing impairments. Dr. Downs is noted internationally for her work in pediatric audiology and her publications and teachings have brought worldwide attention to the importance of early habilitation for deafness. Almost single-handedly, she alerted the medical world to the developmental problems associated with childhood deafness. To ensure that pediatric hearing loss would continue to stay at the top of the list of priorities for all professionals who work with children, in 1969, Dr. Downs proposed that a national committee be established, composed of representatives from professional hearing healthcare organizations, to periodically review and evaluate, as well as recommend "best practices" approach, to newborn hearing screening. As a direct result of her visionary thinking, a national Joint Committee on Infant Hearing was organized and has provided multi-disciplinary leadership and guidance for 35 years in all areas of newborn and infant hearing issues.

In appreciation of the many contributions made by Marion Downs during her long career, her peers recognized her accomplishments with an amazing array of awards. Among her many honors are the Outstanding Achievement Award from her alma mater, the University of Minnesota , and Gold Medal Recognition from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is the recipient of two Honorary Doctorate Degrees: one from the University of Colorado and one from the University of Northern Colorado . Dr. Downs has been awarded the Medal of the Ministry of Health of South Vietnam , and has been recognized with Honors of nearly every professional hearing-related society including the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Society. She was a founder of the American Auditory Society and invited to present the prestigious Carhart Memorial Lecture in 1980. She received an Outstanding Service Recognition Award from the American Medical Association for her work in teaching audiology in Viet Nam . She was among the founders of the International Audiology Society, and has served on numerous committees, boards, and task forces on local, national and international projects. She served as the program chair for the International Audiology Congress on two occasions.

As a fitting tribute to this great professional's career, The Marion Downs Hearing Center was officially opened on May 24, 2005 on the campus of the University of Colorado Medical Center. The Marion Downs Hearing Center (MDHC) will strive to provide national and international resources, services, education and research to support the needs of individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, their families and the professionals who work with them. Start-up funding for the MDHC programs was provided through a federal grant administered by the Center on Disease Control (CDC). The Marion Downs Hearing Center will strive to meet the needs of individuals through a "cradle to grave" approach working with infant hearing programs, early intervention programs, and family-centered support programs. Reflecting the spirit of Dr. Down's professional attitudes, the MDHC will promote and provide inter-disciplinary collaboration to benefit parents and consumers, clinicians and researchers, and to meet the needs of the hearing-impaired.

Marion Downs continues to inspire us all as she continues to provide vision, direction and encouragement even in her 9th decade of life. Dr. Downs has changed the world for countless children, families and professionals who are especially grateful for her concern and wisdom, as they have benefited from her devoted efforts to better their lives.