If the sketch of the man with shaved head and handlebar mustache featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal seemed familiar, that’s because he’s Wabash man Mead Killion ’61.
Killion developed the technology used in hearing aids that amplifies soft sounds—like birds chirping—without necessarily increasing the volume of all sounds. Now Killion is pushing the Food and Drug Administration to make very costly hearing aids available over-the-counter at a fraction of their usual cost.
The battle with the FDA and a number of well-known audiologists was the subject of the WSJ article, with Killion getting the first and last words. The article points out that Killion’s devices are already widely distributed as hearing aids for hunters; sportsmen use the ear inserts to pick up on subtle sounds like deer rustling in the leaves. The cost to hunters is about $175; the cost for hearing aids with similar technology is about $2,200.
Killion’s impulse to get helpful technology into the hands—and ears—of those who previously couldn’t afford it is another reason the mathematics/ economics major was awarded an honorary degree from the College in 1997. —Jim Amidon ’87