Patients of Hopkins physician GEORGE T. NAGER and John Niparko have supported creation of this professorship. Dr. Nager (shown seated, with Dr. Niparko, standing) was considered one of the world's leading otological surgeons and otopathologists, as well as an outstanding teacher, mentor, and clinician. Among his many honors was inclusion in the American Otological Society, which restricts membership to 100 living individuals, and in the Collegium, which permits only 20 American members. Dr. Nager came to Hopkins as a fellow and joined the faculty in 1954. In 1969, he was named director of the Division of Otology and Laryngology, which the following year became the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He stepped down as chairman in 1984. Dr. Nager reorganized the Temporal Bone Pathology Laboratory, which under his leadership gained an international reputation. His publications on tumors and bone diseases involving the ear have become classic references. In 2001 he was named a Distinguished Service Professor. Dr. Nager died in 2010.   After conducting research through the Internet in 1996 on the efficacy of cochlear implants, SIGRID T. CERF came to Hopkins for implantation by otoneurologic surgeon John Niparko. When the device was activated, she was able to speak by phone to her husband, VINTON G. CERF, for the first time in 30 years of marriage. Dr. Cerf is the co-inventor of the Internet and he serves as Google's Chief Internet Evangelist. He has received many awards, including the United States National Medal of Technology, the silver medal of the International Telecommunications Union and the Marconi Fellowship. He is a fellow of the United States National Academy of Engineering and of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and is a trustee of Gallaudet University. The Nager Professorship will support research initiatives currently under the direction of Dr. Niparko.

JOHN K. NIPARKO is the inaugural George T. Nager Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He directs the Division of Otology, Audiology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery. He also heads The Listening Center at Johns Hopkins. An internationally renowned otoneurologic surgeon and basic science researcher, Dr. Niparko's clinical interests include surgery of the inner ear and skull base tumors, and surgical technologies to enhance hearing for profoundly hearing-impaired individuals, including cochlear implants. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has co-authored four books, among them Atlas of Skull Base Surgery. Dr. Niparko received the Deafness Research Foundation's Annual Hearing Research Award in 2002 and was named editor-in-chief of the Journal of Otology & Neurotology in 2006. Dr. Niparko's current work in implantable technologies has yielded substantial NIH and industry support of new approaches to hearing restoration. Specifically, he is leading research efforts in addressing early onset hearing loss and partial deafness in adults using devices that enable high-fidelity sound inputs to the deafened ear. Of considerable interest to the media has been The Listening Center's work with Heather Whitestone McCallum, the first deaf Miss America (1996). Dr. Niparko's successful surgery in both ears enabled Ms. McCallum to enjoy sensitive hearing for the first time. In turn, she has become one of the world's most powerful advocates of hearing rehabilitation and has found a new dimension in her role as a parent, fully participating in the speech and language development of her two young sons.