Canada awards high honor to Marshall Chasin, one of Hearinghealthmatters’ own

David Kirkwood
July 25, 2012

This Hearing News Watch item was updated on August 6.

Marshall Chasin

TORONTO–Marshall Chasin, AuD, editor of the Hear the Music blog at Hearinghealthmatters.org, has been awarded the Canadian Governor General’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for Volunteer Services. This high honor recognizes the Toronto-based audiologist for his outstanding voluntary contributions to the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

The Jubilee Award was presented to Chasin by David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, at a National Youth Orchestra concert on July 31 in Toronto. The Governor General is Queen Elizabeth II’s Canadian representative and the Diamond Jubilee Medal commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne.

Chasin, who holds his MSc in audiology from the University of British Columbia School of Audiology and Speech Sciences and his doctorate from the Arizona School of Health Sciences, has specialized during his career on the nexus between hearing and music. He is director of auditory research at the Musicians’ Clinics of Canada in Toronto, as well as coordinator of research at the Canadian Hearing Society and director of research at ListenUp Canada.

He is also an associate professor in the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders at the University of Western Ontario, and adjunct professor in linguistics at the University of Toronto, specializing in acoustic phonetics.

Asked his response to being selected for the Governor General’s Award, Chasin told Hearing News Watch, “One of the goals in my professional life is to ensure that musicians stay healthy. Hearing loss prevention has long been an interest of mine, and I am happy that I have been able to help out, at least in some small way.”

Among previous honors that Chasin has received are the Professional Leadership Award from the Audiology Foundation of America for his clinical and research work with musicians and performing artists, the Eve Kassirer Award for outstanding professional achievement from the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, and the Honours of the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

He is the author of several books, including Musicians and the Prevention of Hearing Loss, Hear the Music, CIC Handbook, and Noise Control: A Primer. He has also made many presentations in Canada, the United States, and overseas, including a number on hearing loss prevention in musicians, music and noise exposure, and fitting hearing aids on musicians. His other areas of expertise include implantable hearing aids.

A man of many media, Chasin is not only an editor of print (the Canadian Hearing Report) and online (Hearinghealthmatters.org) publications, but also a popular guest on radio and TV programs–he’s a regular on MuchMusic, a Canadian specialty channel dedicated to music-related programs, pop, and youth culture.

He is also an enthusiastic amateur musician.

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