Nina Kraus
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 2022
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology, is the recipient of The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s 2022 Alumnae Award. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health. Kraus is a role model for women in science and technology. Through her diverse partnerships, her work on the effects of music experience on the nervous system has targeted African American and Latino children living in low-income areas. Her research on HIV takes place in under-resourced communities in China and Tanzania.
Her latest book, Of Sound Mind – How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, which was written for the intellectually curious, has received national recognition. When talking about her book, Kraus notes in the Evanston Round Table: “This is my love-letter to sound, how sound connects us, its biological impact on making us us, and how it affects the world we live in. Sound is an underrecognized, powerful force in our lives. The hearing brain engages how we think, feel, move and integrate our other senses.” A Wall Street Journal review of the book notes: “Of Sound Mind offers a deeply scientific yet often poetic look at the hearing brain and provides an in-depth narrative about why such explorations are important.”
The Alumnae Award recognizes a woman who has brought honor to Northwestern University through outstanding professional contributions in her field and who has attained national recognition. Established in 1976, the Alumnae Award has been presented every year to an alumna who has had a significant impact in her field of endeavor. Educators, journalists, doctors, scientists, and artists are included among The Alumnae’s roster of awardees.
“As the 46th recipient of our Alumnae Award, Nina will join a distinguished group of women bringing honor to Northwestern University,” says The Alumnae president Carol Willis.
In her deep examination of sound and the brain, Kraus makes the case for the far-reaching impact of sound, showing how hearing engages how we think, feel, move and combine our senses. Through auditory neuroscience, she discovered how the sounds of our lives engage our neurological health for better (musicians, bilinguals) and for worse (concussion, language disorders, poverty). Kraus has more than 400 books and articles in peer-reviewed publications.
Diverse partnerships encompass:
Community Partnerships: Kraus has a history of engaging with communities beyond academic science, with longstanding partnerships with education, industry, the arts, philosophy, athletics, medicine and the general public. All partnerships have led to peer
reviewed scientific publications.
Partnerships with Education: Kraus has undertaken uncommon initiatives with children engaged in music programs in low-income areas of Chicago and Los Angeles. Using longitudinal studies (following individual children for about five years), she delineated
biological consequences of living in poverty on the hearing brain, revealing that music education can offset adverse biological, learning and literacy outcomes in at-risk children.
Partnerships with Athletics: Kraus leads an ongoing NIH-funded project evaluating all 500 Division I athletes over 5 years with biological assessment of hearing health to delineate the auditory processing consequences of concussion and prolonged
participation in contact sports. The work has revealed that concussion indeed disrupts the hearing brain, as well as biological evidence for subconcussive injury. On the other hand, healthy athletes show enhanced sensory processing, more so in female than male athletes.
Partnership with the Arts: SoundHealth is an ongoing partnership between the NIH, NEA, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Along with Francis Collins (NIH director) and soprano Renee Fleming, Kraus has led panels on the feasibility of launching NIH initiatives to fund the study of the biological effects of music on health. Kraus delivered the opening keynote at the founding meeting of this enterprise.
National Endowment for the Arts: Kraus has shown that links between brain rhythms and
sound rhythms track with language skills.
Uniting Communities: Science, Athletics, Performing Arts: Kraus is using her research to Uniting Communities: Science, Athletics, Performing Arts: Kraus is using her research to make connections between seemingly disparate fields. Currently, she is
investigating rhythm training as a therapeutic avenue for concussions. She engages with Athletes for the Arts and the Performing Arts Medical Association. To illustrate concepts, often partnering with artists for lectures and teaching, Kraus demonstrates that science is an art.
Since 2016, Kraus gave 90 keynotes and numerous invited talks including: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Fermi Labs, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Columbia University, Rutgers University, Emory University, Tufts University, University of Chicago and the University of Texas.
Kraus runs a far-reaching lab website (https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu) and enjoys regular media coverage (New York Times, BBC, NPR, Time, Nature, Science and Scientific American). She embraces podcasts and interviews to communicate the science of sound through sound. Unscripted and spontaneous, these exchanges build empathy with an audience, capitalizing on
sound’s ability to connect us. She holds five patents, with three pending, for assessment of sound processing in the brain.
Nina Kraus will receive her award on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at 4 p.m., at the Allen Center on Northwestern’s campus. She will be introduced by E. Patrick Johnson, dean, Northwestern’s School of Communication and Annenberg University professor.
The Alumnae of Northwestern is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit the University. It shares the University’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program, which is celebrating its 53rd year of bringing daytime noncredit courses to the public. The Alumnae has given more than $9.5
million to the University in the form of grants, fellowships, scholarships, and an endowed professorship, and has provided funds for special university projects and summer internships. For more information, visit The Alumnae website (www.nualumnae.org).
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For Immediate Release
October 12, 2022 – Photo available
For more information:
Michele Bresler, Public Relations Chair
The Alumnae of Northwestern University
847-867-5412; [email protected]
Nina Kraus, PhD, to Receive 2022 Alumnae Award
From The Alumnae of Northwestern University