Candidate for President-Elect
Robert F. Burkard, PhD, CCC-A
ASHA Leader Interview | Video Interview | Video Transcript | All Candidates
Robert Burkard, PhD, CCC-A, is Professor and Chair, Department of Rehabilitation Science, University at Buffalo. This department houses the Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs. His research has focused on auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in both humans and non-human vertebrates. He also has been a co-investigator on functional imaging studies in humans (including PET and fMRI). More recently, he has become interested in vestibular/balance function. He has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, served as co-editor of several books, presented at many national and international meetings, and had some success in attracting extramural support for his research.
Dr. Burkard has served as Vice-Chair and Chair of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) S3 Bioacoustics, which is responsible for U.S. audiometric standards development. He is currently the Chair of the working group that is responsible for developing an ANSI auditory evoked potential standard. He has served as the Editor for the American Journal of Audiology. He was fortunate to have been chosen as the audiology co-Chair of the 2007 Annual ASHA Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. He currently serves as a member of ASHA's Health Care Economics Committee. He participated in the October 2012 ASHA Changing Health Care Landscape Summit and was a member of the planning committee for this Summit. He has served on federal grant-review panels, and he reviews articles for several professional journals. He was named ASHA Fellow in 2005 and received the Honors of the Association in 2011.
Dr. Burkard earned his bachelor's degree in communication disorders from Buffalo State College and his master's and PhD degrees in audiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The ASHA Leader asked the candidates:
Given the position for which you are running, if you could change one thing about ASHA, what would it be?
ASHA’s deliberative nature can slow its response to disruptive changes. ASHA must now actively promote the timely transformation of our professions. When I refer to ASHA, I do not refer solely to the organization, but to all its members. Health care reform mandates must emphasize quality (not volume) of care. This is a threat and an opportunity. We must reinvent ourselves: our public image, how we practice, our research priorities and how we educate students. We must convince qualified health plans that our services are essential health care benefits and improve quality of life. We must break down professional silos and engage in interprofessional practice/education, and become facile in the analysis of large databases to obtain the requisite evidence that leads to best practices.
Why are you running for a position on the ASHA Board?
What would be your top priority be if elected to your respective position?