Donald David Dirks

Donald D. “Don” Dirks was born September 26, 1933, in Aviston, Illinois, and grew up in Trenton, a small farming community of approximately 500 people about 50 miles from St. Louis. He attended St. Henry’s Seminary in Belleville, Illinois, graduating in 1951.

Don went on to attend Saint Louis University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy. He began his career as a speech therapist in Kansas City, Missouri, while taking graduate courses at night at the University of Kansas in Communication Disorders.

His work and studies were interrupted when he served for six months on active duty in the United States Army, followed by service in the Army Reserve. After completing his active-duty service, Don worked as an audiologist at the University of Kansas Medical School in Kansas City, Kansas, while completing his master’s degree.

In 1959, Don was accepted into the doctoral program in Communication Disorders at Northwestern University. He completed his Ph.D. in 1963, with a major in Audiology and minors in Physiological Psychology and Quantitative Analysis. That same year, he began his career at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he would make lasting contributions to the field of audiology.

Family and Personal Life

Don met Rose at a potluck party in Westwood in June 1966. They married just five months later, on November 12, 1966, at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Together they built a life centered around family and shared nearly 60 years of marriage.

Don was a man of tremendous integrity and a strong work ethic, values he carried throughout his life. He had a quick, witty sense of humor and was deeply respected by the people who knew and worked with him. As accomplished as he was professionally, his family was at the center of his life. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather—and, quite simply, the kind of dad everyone wishes they had.

Don loved his children and was immensely proud of them. When his grandchildren were born, he embraced being a grandfather with tremendous joy and pride. He often spoke of how fortunate he felt to have the years he did with them and to watch them grow into the people they are today.

Don made a point of being present for the important milestones in his children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Education was especially important to him, and he took great pride in supporting and encouraging their educational journeys. His family always knew that he believed in them, was proud of them, and would be there for the moments that mattered.

Don and Rose loved to travel together. One of the more unexpected chapters of Don’s life began when he learned to swim at age 69. He and Rose went on to enjoy snorkeling vacations in Hawaii, Tahiti, Bermuda, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef along with many cruises and trips to warm-water destinations.

Some of the family’s fondest memories were made during trips to Catalina Island and camping adventures in the family’s Volkswagen van. Years later, when his grandchildren were young, Don and Rose took the entire family back to Catalina, sharing with a new generation a place that had been special to their own children growing up. The family also shared a memorable Disney Cruise to the Bahamas.

Don loved baseball and sports and was a loyal fan of the UCLA Bruins and Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite a distinguished professional career, he was never one for pretense and was perfectly happy brown-bagging a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

These experiences reflected what mattered most to Don: family, time together, learning, shared adventures, and the simple pleasures of life.

A Personal Connection to Hearing and Audiology

Don’s dedication to the field of audiology was also deeply personal. In his twenties, he lost the hearing in one ear and lived for many years with what he called his “one good ear.” Later in life, he underwent surgery that restored some hearing to his other ear, allowing him to use a hearing aid for nearly a decade. Never one to stop looking forward, Don later received a cochlear implant in the hope of gaining even more hearing.

His willingness to embrace new approaches to hearing care reflected the same curiosity, perseverance, and belief in scientific progress that defined his professional life. He understood firsthand the challenges of hearing loss, and his lifelong commitment to advancing hearing research was both professional and personal.

Career and Legacy in Audiology

Don was a respected hearing scientist whose research helped advance the understanding of one of the most important challenges faced by people with hearing loss: understanding speech in everyday environments with background noise and reverberation.

His research included influential work in speech intelligibility, binaural listening, loudness, the acoustic measurement of hearing aids, and methods for distinguishing sensorineural from conductive hearing loss. His laboratory’s work examining the speech frequencies most important for understanding conversation contributed to the development of the Speech Intelligibility Index, a framework that has influenced hearing research and clinical practice.

Throughout his career, Don helped establish better ways to measure hearing, understand communication difficulties, and improve amplification and hearing care. His work ultimately centered on something deeply human: helping people hear, communicate, and connect with one another.

Perhaps his most enduring professional legacy, however, is found in the people he influenced. Don mentored, trained, and encouraged generations of students, postdoctoral fellows, scientists, and early-career investigators. His contributions live on not only through his research, but through the many people whose careers and work he helped shape.

Surviving Family

Don is survived by his wife, Rose; his son, Mike, and Mike’s wife, Bethel; his daughter, Pam, and her husband, Matt; and his grandchildren, Nick, Daisy, and Kate.

Memorial

In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial contributions in Don’s honor to the American Auditory Society, reflecting his lifelong commitment to hearing science and to future generations of researchers. https://gofund.me/7a637aa71