Rich Harrell, PhD

Dr. Richard Harrell, an audiologist who’s passionate about patient-centered care, founded The Hearing Clinic in Virginia in 1995. The private, independent practice has three convenient locations, including two in Blacksburg (Davis Street, Plantation Road) and one in Salem (Braeburn Drive).

Dr. Harrell holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Radford University — with an internship at North Carolina Baptist hospital — and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He moved to the New River Valley region from New York, where he had served as professor of audiology at SUNY New Paltz. He served as assistant professor of audiology at Radford University from 1994 to 2000, when the Audiology Department at Lewis-Gale clinic was purchased and became part of The Hearing Clinic.

Dr. Harrell also served on the Virginia Department of Health task force for infant hearing screening and coauthored the original protocol for universal infant hearing screening in the state. With academic research interests including vestibular evaluations and hearing aid technology, Dr. Harrell has lectured on otoacoustic emissions and has presented at various national conferences and organizations. He’s also a contributing author to the Handbook of Clinical Audiology’s fifth edition. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing and cycling.