| Abstract: | Ira Hirsh was a person who had high standards, for himself as well as others. As an academic leader and scientist he could be forceful and demanding, but his goal was always the betterment of the field. He had an unflagging devotion to psychology as a hard science. Ira published The measurement of hearing (McGraw Hill, 1952), which quickly became the standard textbook in audiologists. In addition to this book, he published over 100 scholarly articles, many of which laid the groundwork for research that has revolutionized such fields as audiology, psychoacoustics, audiometry, and deaf education. For example, Ira was among the first scientists to push auditory research beyond the study of single tones, clicks, or noise bursts. Ira was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Shirley, who passed away in 2004. He is survived by his four children, Donald Hirsh of Chapel Hill, Elizabeth Hirsh of Salt Lake City, Eloise Hirsh of New York City, and Richard Hirsh of Chicago; one sister, Jane Davis of Rochester, New York; and seven grandchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) |
