Dispenser Of The Year
Each year, the association honors one of its members with the coveted THAA Dispenser of the Year Award. The award is given to the licensed dispenser who practices the highest standard of ethics when serving the hearing impaired of Texas. THAA is proud to announce its 2010 Dispenser of the Year is Larry Farris, BC-HIS.
Larry was born in Smyrna, Tennessee in 1955. His father, Bert, was in the Air Force so his family traveled extensively. Bert’s last assignment was Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, a place they would call home to this day.
He graduated Judson High School in 1973, and followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Air Force. He proudly served his country for four years. Following his service, he attended Texas State University and graduated with a Bachelors of Applied Arts and Sciences in 1981. He continued his education by attending courses in Communication Disorders at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio where he completed 32 hours in Communication Disorders.
He received his license to dispense hearing aids from the Texas State Committee of Examiners in the Fitting and Dispensing of Hearing Aids in 1981. His father was his supervisor. Two years later, he showed a willingness to excel beyond the normal requirements for being a hearing aid dispenser by completing the Audioprosthology Education Program in 1983 and obtaining the dispensing profession’s most coveted BC-HIS designation in 1994.
In addition to his commitment to education, Larry has become one of his profession’s most active volunteers. In 1986, he was elected to the THAA Board of Directors. Over the next six years, he would served as Vice-President, President-Elect, President and Past-President of the association. Then, in 1994, he was appointed by Texas Governor Bill Clements to serve on the State's licensing committee for six years, where his fellow committee members elected him President for two years.
On the national level, Larry was elected Governor of the Southwest Region of the International Hearing Society in 2001, where he is currently serving his third term in nine years. He has also served as Secretary of IHS, and he is currently Treasurer of the Society.
In addition, Larry has served on the Board of the International Institute of Hearing Instrument Sciences, a organization that provides educational programs and opportunities for dispensers worldwide. He was Chairman of Publications during the writing and publication of the Institute’s Home Study Course, and he also served on the examination committee that prepared the National Licensing Exam for Hearing Instrument Dispensers.
In 2007, Hearing Journal Magazine awarded Larry the Joel S. Wernick Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Professional Education and Certification of Hearing Aid Dispensers.
Many times he has said how fortunate he has been to work in a family business with his dad, mom and wife Pam. Upon being notified of this award he wrote “I have been very blessed in choosing the dispensing of hearing aids as my profession. Not only have I been influenced by my father, but I was placed in a leadership role as president of THAA at an early time of my career. It was amazing the amount of people throughout the state who chose to mentor me and it has been such a blessing. People who have had a profound impact on my professional life are so numerous that it will be hard to name them all – Jim and William McCrae, Wallace Hamill, Scott Simpson, Joe and Rosemary Geraci, Betty and Willard Spiser, Carrol Green, Dick Durbin, Tracy King, Dwight Herd, Harold Williams, Jay McSpadden, Hollis Underwood, Curt Wallis, Kevin Solbrig, Amy Trost – I could go on and on. That is why it is such a pleasure to belong to this association.”
