Jan Willem van den Berg

Biography

Janwillem van den Berg (26 November 1920 in Akkrum – 18 October 1985 in Groningen) was a Dutch speech scientist and medical physicist who played a major role in establishing the myoelastic-aerodynamic theory[1] of voice production. The most notable aspect of van den Berg's theory is its impact on modern speech science in providing a foundation for modern models of vocal fold function. His research on the (singing) voice drew the attention of singers from many parts of the world, some of whom even visited him in Groningen. This led, with the assistance of William Vennard, in 1960 to the Instructional film: “The Vibrating Larynx” which was a standard for a long time, showing a live functioning larynx for the first time in history. This film won him the Belgian `Prix de la recherche scientifique` in 1962. In that same year he presented an extensive overview of experimental phonetics as the main lecture of the IALP (International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics) congress in Padua.