Dr. Susan Speraw has served on TNSTEP’s Board of Directors for over twelve years, previously holding the roles of chair, vice chair, and secretary. She is both a registered nurse and clinical psychologist, with more than 30 years of experience serving children, women with high-risk pregnancies, special needs infants, immigrants, and refugees.
In her psychology practice, she worked for 10 years with families of children with special needs, which led to her collaboration with TNSTEP. She is recently retired from her role as Research Professor in the College of Nursing at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she taught graduate students and directed federally funded programs in global disaster nursing and Appalachian community health.
Her research has explored families’ experiences seeking formal religious education for children with special needs and the contributions of volunteers with disabilities during Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Speraw holds a B.S. in Nursing from California State University, Los Angeles, an M.N. in Women’s Health (Nurse Practitioner) from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a Health Psychology emphasis from the California School of Professional Psychology. She lives in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and has a granddaughter with multiple special needs.
