The AAO-HNS/F Hall of Distinction Award honors individuals whose extraordinary leadership, innovation, and lasting contributions have profoundly shaped the field of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery.
The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Foundation (AAO-HNS/F) is pleased to announce the selection of the sixth class of inductees into the AAO-HNS Hall of Distinction. A special thank you to the Awards Committee, chaired by Sanjay Parikh, MD, which selected four individuals for the “Pioneers” category and six individuals for the “Living Legends” category.
President Gene Brown, MD, RPh, will honor this outstanding class of inductees during a special presentation at the AAO-HNSF 2026 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO during the Opening Ceremony, 8:00 – 9:00 am (ET), Saturday, October 17, in Los Angeles, California.
Pioneer Inductees
Richard L. Goode, MD
Richard L. Goode, MD, was a versatile academic leader and inventor whose clinical contributions helped shape the specialty during a pivotal era of healthcare reform. Dr. Goode joined the Stanford University School of Medicine faculty in 1966, where he practiced for more than four decades, trained generations of surgical residents, and served as emeritus professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. In 1970, he invented the Goode T-tube, still used today to drain middle-ear infections. As President (1990-1991), he guided the Academy through the regulatory and reimbursement upheavals of the early 1990s, championing investments in outcomes research and technology assessment and strengthening its legislative network. Dr. Goode also served as Chair of the NIH NINCDS (now NIDCD) Review Committee and the FDA ENT Device Committee, among other leadership roles. Author of more than 170 scholarly papers, he served on the editorial boards of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and other journals, leaving a legacy of mentorship, innovation, and leadership that continues to influence the specialty today.
Dean McAllister Lierle, MD
Dean McAllister Lierle, MD, was an esteemed leader whose decades of work at the University of Iowa are widely credited with elevating otolaryngology into a rigorous, scientific discipline. Dr. Lierle joined the University of Iowa’s Department of Otolaryngology and Oral Surgery in 1923, rising to full professor in 1928 and department head in 1929, a position he held until retiring in 1965, building the department into an internationally regarded model for the specialty. Within the Academy, Dr. Lierle led the Section on Instruction in Otolaryngology (1937-1959), chaired the Conservation of Hearing Committee (1943-1968), and chaired the Academy’s study on postwar education for otolaryngologists returning from military service (1944-1945). He also represented otolaryngology on the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents (1955-1964) and served as secretary-treasurer of the American Board of Otolaryngology for 30 years. The Dean Lierle Surgical Center, funded by gifts from Lierle’s former students, was opened at the University Hospital in 1973, and stands as a lasting tribute to his legacy of mentorship and scientific rigor.
Harry W. McCurdy, MD
Col. Harry W. McCurdy, MD, was a foundational Academy leader whose vision and advocacy proved instrumental in one of otolaryngology’s most consequential institutional transitions. Upon retiring from the U.S. Army in 1974, Dr. McCurdy became the first full-time executive director of the American Council of Otolaryngology (ACO), where his nationwide advocacy made him one of the best-known figures in otolaryngology. His 1980 presentation to the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO) Board of Directors led directly to the Joint Conference Committee that shepherded the ACO-AAO merger. Following its success, he was selected to lead the newly unified organization. Dr. McCurdy built his leadership record on a distinguished 30-year career in the U.S. Army that included a post as chief of otolaryngology at Walter Reed General Hospital, where he championed Army-wide hearing protection policy. His honors include the Legion of Merit Medal and the Army Commendation Medal. His dedication to resident education, mentorship, and military medicine continues to inspire the next generation of otolaryngologists.
James Byron Snow, Jr., MD
James Byron Snow, Jr., MD, was a distinguished physician-scientist whose dual legacy as a founding federal research director and academic department chair helped define the modern study of human communication disorders. In 1990, he became the founding director of the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, establishing its mission areas and recruiting a distinguished cadre of clinician-scientists. Prior to this instrumental leadership role, Dr. Snow chaired the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at both the University of Oklahoma Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania, where he trained generations of specialists and published extensively on the pathophysiology of the inner ear, the olfactory system, and combined surgical-radiation treatment of head and neck cancer. Dr. Snow served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps in Korea from 1960-1961, where he was the only otolaryngologist in the Eighth U.S. Army. He received numerous awards including the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Deafness Research Foundation and the Senior Executive Service Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award for his government service.
Living Legends Inductees
Byron J. Bailey, MD
Byron J. Bailey, MD, is a pioneering educator and institution-builder whose leadership shaped otolaryngology’s academic foundations and extended the specialty’s reach across the globe. He served as President of the AAO-HNS/F from 1988 to 1989, and his leadership extended across the specialty, including presidencies in several other specialty organizations. In 1968, he became the Weiss Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, building it into a nationally recognized program renowned for its residency training. In 2009, UTMB established the Byron Bailey Surgical Society, an annual educational meeting held in his honor. A prolific scholar, he published extensively throughout his career and served as editor-in-chief of leading journals in the specialty. Dr. Bailey has received numerous awards for his humanitarian contributions including the Distinguished Award for Humanitarian Service (2003) and Jerome C. Goldstein, MD Public Service Award (1999). His enduring legacy continues to inspire a devotion to the advancement of medical education for the next generations of otolaryngologists.
Willard B. Moran, Jr., MD
Willard B. Moran, Jr., MD, is an Academy leader whose decades-long commitment to organized medicine and health policy has brought real-world experience, mentorship, and steady leadership to the specialty. Dr. Moran’s service within the AAO-HNS has spanned decades, including service as chair of the Board of Governors (1990-1991), coordinator for socioeconomic affairs (1996-2002), and Physician Payment Policy (3P) Work Group (2008-2017). His contributions were recognized with Presidential Citations from Past Presidents John G. Campbell, MD, and James C. Denneny III, MD, and with the AAO-HNS Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Dr. Moran completed his residency training in Oklahoma before becoming chief of otolaryngology services at the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he served as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps. In 1966, he undertook a two-year advanced postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. Dr. Moran also served as President of the Oklahoma City Clinic and holds professorships in the Departments of Pediatrics and Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center.
Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA
Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA, is a visionary laryngologist and educator, bridging medicine and music, who helped establish care of the professional voice as a recognized subspecialty within otolaryngology. He is professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and senior associate dean, Drexel University College of Medicine, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has practiced and taught for more than four decades. Dr. Sataloff authored the first modern comprehensive book on care of the professional voice, and he has invented more than 75 laryngeal surgical instruments. As editor-in-chief of the Journal of Voice and other scientific journals, he has shaped the field’s scholarly record. He has written 1,200 publications including 79 books. Dr. Sataloff has served as president of the American Laryngological Association and the International Association of Phonosurgery, and as chair of the Boards of The Voice Foundation and the American Institute for Voice and Ear Research. His contributions to the Academy were recognized with the Distinguished Service Award on three occasions (2003, 2011, and 2023).
Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, MSc
Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, MSc, is a distinguished Academy leader whose military service, mentorship, and academic career have shaped clinical practice and research excellence. Dr. Schmalbach served eight years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps, rising to Lieutenant Colonel. She now serves as the David Myers, MD Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine. In 2022, she became the first woman editor-in-chief of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and OTO Open, having risen through the ranks from star reviewer to deputy editor, where she created the highly successful Resident Reviewer Development Program. A three-time Distinguished Service Award recipient (2015, 2021, 2026), Dr. Schmalbach also served as the AAO-HNSF Coordinator for Research and Quality, as an integral leader in the Women in Otolaryngology Section, and as a Cochrane Scholar. Dr. Schmalbach is also the recipient of the Jerome C. Goldstein, MD Public Service Award and the U.S. Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, among others.
Neil O. Ward, MD, MALS
Neil O. Ward, MD, MALS, is a versatile physician-leader whose steady hand guided the Academy through a pivotal period of change. Engaged in organized medicine, Dr. Ward served chair of the AAO-HNS Board of Governors (1987-1988) and then as AAO-HNS/F president from 1995 to 1996, where he championed the accessible phrase “ear, nose, and throat” in public communications, a practice that endures today. In 1999, Dr. Ward returned to the Academy’s headquarters as interim EVP, guiding the Academy through the launch of ENTLink, a members-only web portal connecting otolaryngologists to one another and to the public at the dawn of the internet era. He went on to serve as deputy EVP for special projects (2000-2005) and stepped in again as interim EVP in the months prior to David R. Nielsen, MD, assuming the role in 2002. His contributions were recognized with two Presidential Citations, the AAO-HNS Distinguished Service Award, and the BOG Practitioner of Excellence Award, reflecting a legacy of consistent leadership during a defining era of change.
Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, MD, MSA
Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, is a groundbreaking leader and mentor whose career has advanced both the science of sleep medicine and the cause of equity within otolaryngology. Dr. Yaremchuk served as AAO-HNS/F president from 2022-2023, capping decades of Academy leadership that included service as director at large, chair of the Sleep Disorders Committee, and chair of the Women in Otolaryngology Section. Board certified in both otolaryngology and sleep medicine, Dr. Yaremchuk built her career at Henry Ford Health System, where she has served as chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and became the first woman to chair the Henry Ford Medical Group’s Board of Governors. In 2022, she also established the Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Research at Henry Ford with a $1.5 million gift supporting translational research and mentorship. Her honors include the WIO Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award, Jerome C. Goldstein, MD Public Service Award, and two Distinguished Service Awards, among others.
