Susan Reinhard, R.N., Ph.D., is a Senior Vice President at AARP, directing its Public Policy Institute, the focal point for public policy research and analysis at the state, federal and international levels. She also serves as the Chief Strategist for the Center to Champion Nursing in America at AARP, a national resource and technical assistance center created to ensure that America has the nurses it needs to provide care both now and in the future.
Dr. Reinhard is a nationally recognized expert in health and long-term services and supports policy, with extensive experience in conducting, directing, and translating research to promote policy change. Prior to AARP, Dr. Reinhard served as a Professor and Co-Director of Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, where she directed several national initiatives to work with states to help people with disabilities of all ages live in their homes and communities. Previously, she served three governors as Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, where she led the development of health policies and nationally recognized programs for family caregiving, consumer choice and control in health and supportive care, assisted living and other community- based care options, quality improvement, state pharmacy assistance, and medication safety. She also co-founded the Institute for the Future of Aging Services in Washington, D.C., and served as its Executive Director of the Center for Medicare Education.
Dr. Reinhard is a former faculty member at the Rutgers College of Nursing. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.