AroundtheWorld A LOOK AT GLOBAL STEM AND DIVERSITY EFFORTS Hearing Accolades BY JOANNE BLOOMSTEIN DR. CATHERINE CLARK IS Audiologist changes lives from the U.S. to Africa Dr. Catherine Clark usually the first Black audiologist that her clients at both Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) have ever met. She worries that when she retires — she’s worked at NTID for 37 years — she will also be their last, as less than 4% of audiologists in the U.S. are Black. As one of a small number of Black female audiologists in the world, Clark is not only working to increase diversity in the field in the U.S. through mentoring, teach-ing and other outreach, but she is also working tirelessly to expand A boy signs “I love you” while wearing a hearing aid he received from Clark and her team. the reach of audiology services into Africa, volunteering her time and providing essential services to deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults in Ethiopia. Her work there has been so important to the region that a new audiology center in Hawassa, Ethiopia, has recently been named in her honor: The Dr. Catherine Clark Center for Audiol-ogy officially opened in fall 2023. Clark is currently planning her eighth trip to Ethiopia, scheduled for July 2024, during which she will work at the new center as well as in the surrounding community. While she is eagerly anticipating the trip and is looking forward to seeing so many people whom she considers family at this point, she also stresses that “the whole goal is to train more people in Ethiopia to deliver the services” so they don’t remain dependent on foreign aid. She has already trained audiology assistants, Enderis Kedir Genabo and Bereket Ayele, and enlisted the help of an otolaryngologist (ENT) to provide support and maintenance services on hearing aids. In her ab-sence, they are now able to examine patients and to identify those who need ear cleaning and hearing aid support, as well as identify students who need physical support. During Clark’s first trip to Africa — to Senegal — she immediately realized that she wanted to return to Africa to share her expertise, which includes cochlear implants and other advanced technology as well 30 Diversity in Action | MARCH/APRIL 2024 PHOTOS COURTESY OF DR. CATHERINE CLARK
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