Dr. Aage Møller, a world-renowned innovator in the fields of neurological monitoring, sensory systems and neuroplasticity, and a professor at The University of Texas at Dallas for 25 years, died Aug. 19 at the age of 90.
Møller, who was a Founders Professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), is perhaps best known for his development of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM), a technique that reduces the risk of serious complications during brain surgery.
At UT Dallas, he helped develop the neuroscience program, now a full-fledged department, and was still teaching almost 500 students every semester as of last spring.
President Richard C. Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership, praised Møller as the exact kind of scholar the University needed to achieve its rapid ascent.
“UT Dallas is one of the nation’s fastest-advancing universities, whether measured by student enrollment, the size of its research portfolio or the impact that our graduates have on the North Texas community,” Benson said. “So much of this success is due to well-established scholars electing to continue their careers at UT Dallas when the University was still very young.
“How fortunate we were to be able to have Aage and Margareta Møller as our friends. Through their example as teachers, researchers and mentors, and through the various funds they established, their legacy will live forever at UTD.”
Dr. Inga H. Musselman, UTD provost, vice president for academic affairs and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership, said Møller had “quite an amazing career.”
“He made tremendous contributions in the areas of research, teaching and mentoring. His classes were full, and his students loved him,” she said.
Møller was born April 16, 1932, in Finderup, Denmark. Fascinated with sound from an early age, he was an amateur radio operator in his teen years. His aptitude for electronics led him to study in Stockholm — first at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, then at the Karolinska Institute. His earliest research revolved around hearing, specifically the function of the middle ear.
Møller received his doctorate in medical science in 1975 from the Karolinska Institute. He later studied the cochlea in depth, including a 1977 study presenting proof that the cochlea in a living animal is much more frequency-selective for weak sounds than loud sounds.
Reflecting on this work in 2006, the journal Hearing Research — for which Møller was founding editor — published an article by Dr. William S. Rhode of the University of Wisconsin-Madison titled “Contributions of Aage Møller in the study of the cochlear nucleus.”
“In an era when little was known about the function of the auditory central nervous system, Aage Møller engaged in an elaborate series of studies that greatly expanded our knowledge of the cochlear nucleus,” Rhode wrote. “His efforts generated a significant body of work that has rarely been equaled in the modern era with many original observations on cochlear nucleus unit behavior.”
In the 1970s, Møller also became an expert on the hazards of noise exposure and represented the Environmental Protection Agency in hearings held by the Department of Labor.
Møller moved to the U.S. in 1978 to join the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s otolaryngology department. His interests shifted to tinnitus and the auditory brainstem response (ABR). His work was the first to describe how the different components of the ABR are generated, and he began to connect many common disorders, including tinnitus and chronic pain, to maladaptive neuroplasticity.
“Dr. Aage Møller was our most distinguished neuroscientist and our most beloved colleague. His work has helped establish UT Dallas as a home for exceptional neuroscience research and education, and a leader in studies of tinnitus and neuroplasticity. We will miss him greatly.”
Dr. Steven Small, dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
He eventually modified the methods he used for electrophysiological brain research into a system for reducing the risk of nervous system damage during surgery. In 1988 he published the first book on the subject, which established the medical field of IONM. Møller helped found the American Society of Neurophysiologic Monitoring and served as its second president.
Over the decades, Møller earned membership in the American Auditory Society, the American Neurotology Society, the Society for Neuroscience and many other professional organizations.
Møller arrived at UTD in 1997 to join what was then known as the School of Human Development. His research pivoted to neurophysiologic abnormalities in individuals with autism. He developed teaching programs in the biology of pain, sensory systems and neuroplasticity, and he established one of the first university programs to teach IONM to graduate students.
Professor emeritus Dr. Bruce Gnade, who was UT Dallas vice president for research from 2006 to 2016, said the University “has lost a great scholar, but more importantly, a great human being.”
“Aage was one of the nicest men I have ever met,” Gnade said. “He would often stop by my office — we were just down the hall from each other — just to check to see if everything was going well. He was a very humble man. Unless you took the time to look at his CV, you would never know that he was one of the leaders, if not the leader, in tinnitus research.”
Dr. Alice O’Toole, the inaugural Aage and Margareta Møller Professor of psychology, said there is no better role model than Møller. He and Margareta, who died in 2011, established the professorship in 2008 to support the research activities of a faculty member in BBS.
“Professor Møller was an inspiration and role model to me over his many years at UTD. To my mind, he was the perfect academic; he was genuinely dedicated to all facets of the job — researcher, mentor and teacher,” O’Toole said. “What made him such a great role model for students was that he never stopped learning. It was never difficult for him to understand the world from the perspective of the student, because he never stopped being one.”
Møller published 24 books, more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and in excess of 100 book chapters. He gave more than 300 invited lectures around the globe.
Dr. Gregory Dussor, Eugene McDermott Professor and department chair of neuroscience, described Møller as “an amazing human.”
“Aage was a legend in the field of neuroscience who could literally write a textbook on anything he became interested in,” he said. “But more importantly, he was among the kindest and most generous people I have ever known. I can’t imagine he ever made a single dollar on any of his books because he couldn’t help but give them away for free.”
Møller served as chairman of the UTD Institutional Review Board (IRB) from 2002 to 2005, and again from 2007 to 2017. In that role, he was instrumental in building the human subjects research committee.
Dr. Marion Underwood, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Purdue University, was a colleague of Møller for 20 years at UTD, working alongside him on various committees. She called him “a beloved scientist, teacher, colleague and mentor, so unfailingly generous, kind and supportive.”
“Dr. Moller’s tremendous intellectual generativity and boundless generosity greatly enhanced the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences,” she said. “He led the IRB thoughtfully and carefully, always trying to find a way to make it possible to conduct groundbreaking research while respecting those who gave their time to participate.”
“Professor Møller was an inspiration and role model to me over his many years at UTD. To my mind, he was the perfect academic; he was genuinely dedicated to all facets of the job — researcher, mentor and teacher.”
Dr. Alice O’Toole, the Aage and Margareta Møller Professor of psychology
He received the President’s Teaching Excellence Award for Tenure-Track Faculty from UT Dallas in 2011, the same year that he established the Aage Møller Teaching Award. Through the years, he also supported students through the Aage and Margareta Møller Endowed Scholarship, the Aage and Margareta Møller Fund for Vets of the U.S. Armed Forces, and by funding student travel in BBS.
“Dr. Aage Møller was our most distinguished neuroscientist and our most beloved colleague,” said Dr. Steven Small, BBS dean and Aage and Margareta Møller Distinguished Professor in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, an endowment the Møllers also created in 2009. “His work has helped establish UT Dallas as a home for exceptional neuroscience research and education, and a leader in studies of tinnitus and neuroplasticity. We will miss him greatly.”
Møller is survived by his wife, Zara; his sister, Karen Sorensen; three children and their spouses: Peter Møller (Maryam Møller), Jan Møller (Kelli Møller) and Sanaz Okhovat (Edward Hamilton); and three grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Aage and Margareta Møller Endowed Scholarship, the Aage Møller Teaching Award or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
