Patricia Kricos, Ph.D., a former professor of audiology in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences, passed away July 5 in Sarasota. Kricos, who retired from the college in 2012, was an internationally respected educator and scholar whose work focused on audiologic rehabilitation in children and older adults.
Kricos earned master’s and doctoral degrees in speech and hearing sciences from The Ohio State University and taught at the University of Akron before joining the University of Florida faculty in 1981. She served in many national leadership positions during her career, including as president of the American Academy of Audiology and the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology, as well as editor of the Journal of the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology.
At UF, she led the development of the university’s Doctor of Audiology program — one of the first in the U.S. — and served as the program’s director from 1999 to 2003. She then collaborated with colleagues to create the distance learning Doctor of Audiology program, one of the first in the country. She received the Clinical Career Award from the Florida Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 2007, as well as several teaching awards.
Kricos was active in the community, volunteering to lead a weekly “Learning to Live with Hearing Loss program” to offer people with hearing loss ways to cope with challenging listening environments in the workplace, at home or in social situations. In 2011, she was nominated for a Spirit of Gainesville award for her work with the program.
In an article published on the American Academy of Audiology website, UF colleagues Linda Lombardino, Ph.D., Kenneth Logan, Ph.D., and Lori Altmann, Ph.D., describe Kricos’ legacy.
“As well as being the consummate academic and exceptional researcher and administrator, she was a widely admired and valued friend to those of us in the profession. Possessing an exceptional humor and a warm and gracious personality, she will be remembered as a treasured friend and colleague by all who knew her. We have lost her wisdom but gained from her influence through many students and friends. Her influence lives on.”