Cynthia Stuen, DSW/PhD Biography
Cynthia Stuen is Senior Vice President, Policy and Professional Affairs at Lighthouse International. She oversees the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute, the Center for Education and advocates for policy at the national, state and local levels while also maintaining involvement in international efforts to preserve sight and prevent excess disability resulting from vision impairment.
Dr. Stuen is currently the Principal Investigator on a 3-year AHRQ grant "Creating an Evidence Base for Vision Rehabilitation." She is a consultant on a Lighthouse grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to offer innovative online training for vision rehabilitation paraprofessionals. She was a co-guest editor of the issue of Generations on the topic of "Aging and the Senses." She was the Section Editor on "Rehabilitation of Older Adults with Vision Impairment" and a chapter author in the award-winning Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation published by Oxford University Press. Her numerous publications, presentations and research endeavors cover topics of age-related sensory loss, access to environments for older adults with impaired vision and contributions older adults and their family and friends can make to program planning and service delivery. Stuen is Chair-elect of the American Society on Aging (ASA), the largest organization of professionals in the field of aging in the US. She was awarded the ASA Leadership Award in 2005.
Dr. Stuen received her Bachelor's Degree from Valparaiso University, her Masters Degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and her doctorate from Columbia University School of Social Work.