About ATA
The History of ATA
It was 1971, and Jack Vernon, Ph.D., a longtime champion of tinnitus patients, was conducting clinical research at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Ore. He began treating Dr. Charles Unice, a California physician and tinnitus sufferer, and together the two founded the American Tinnitus Association. Its aim – to raise money to fund tinnitus research – endures today.
The extent of ATA in those early days was a closet-sized office and a handful of volunteers in Portland. Today, thanks largely to Jack's vision and commitment to finding better tinnitus treatments and a cure, highly-skilled professionals staff ATA. It is the nation’s largest association of individual contributors that awards grants for tinnitus research. We are lucky to still have Jack Vernon as an adviser, honorary board member and stalwart patient advocate.
A timeline of historical highlights
1975 – Gloria Reich, Ph.D., becomes ATA executive director.
1978 – Parade magazine publishes an article about tinnitus and ATA’s efforts. More than 100,000 pieces of mail arrive at the ATA office, creating the need for paid staff.
1979 – ATA incorporates as a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization (nonprofit status).
1980 – ATA awards its first research grant, $12,000, to Oregon tinnitus researcher Mary B. Meikle, Ph.D. who uses the money to start the first-ever registry of tinnitus patients. The project eventually attracts funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and grows into a valuable tool for tinnitus researchers.
1983 – Dear Abby’s advice column mentions tinnitus and ATA, generating 20,000 letters to our organization
1986 – Dear Abby and Ann Landers columns mention ATA, sparking 130,000 letters to ATA and financial contributions that move the organization forward.
1980s-90s – Medical research makes significant progress in the search for a tinnitus cure. Greatest advance is in determining how tinnitus starts and which areas of the auditory system – from the ear to the brain – are affected.
2000 – Cheryl McGinnis, M.B.A, C.A.E., becomes executive director.
2005 – ATA rolls out "Roadmap to a Cure", an innovative guide for researchers that identifies what researchers know now about tinnitus and what more information they need to develop a cure. Path A and B focus on where and how tinnitus starts. Paths C and D focus on treatments.
2006 – New CEO, David Fagerlie, takes on the task of re-energizing ATA as a research funding giant.
2007 – ATA adopts a new, more focused mission to find resources to advance research that will lead to a tinnitus cure.
We can credit tinnitus research pioneer Jack Vernon, Ph.D., for being the engine that started the American Tinnitus Association.
