What people are saying about CDCI’s President and Director of Education:
“When it comes to cultural diversity there are many issues, options, recommendations, and strategies. Few have really zeroed in on how to best deal with the fact that our world has gotten a whole lot smaller, and global is now community. Robert Stucky has his finger on the pulse of what makes cultural diversity work, and that’s cultural competency. His knowledge and ability are only surpassed by his enormous experience and heart for teaching people how not just to know what diversity is, but how to become proficient in the day to day application of principles and practices that help us be competent in our interactions with people of diverse cultures. His work with me at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, in my role as Training and Education Coordinator for the Department of General Services was extremely useful in helping to train service workers, in a very practical and grassroots way, to be effective in doing their jobs in an environment where minority no longer means black and white. He was knowledgeable, engaging, efficient, and inspiring. I was fortunate to meet him and our department was better for using him.”
Sandra Johnson Coordinator of Education and Training The Department of General Services The Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore, Maryland
“Over my years of working with Rob Stucky, I have come to learn, from him, the true meaning of “interpreter.” While most other linguistic experts with whom I have worked in the delivery of patient care simply translate words from one language to another, Rob is able to use his intimate knowledge of the patient’s cultural background, assimilate that with his incredible understanding of the individual person and his mastery of the language to express back to the practitioner, what the patient truly means to say. Rob has a rare gift of complete cultural competency which, in his field, has improved practitioner-patient relationships, dissolved prejudice, and without hyperbole: saved lives.”
Eric Schafer, MD Instructor in Pediatrics and Oncology Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“I have known Robert Stucky for four and a half years, in which we have worked in very close contact. He possesses the highest intellectual capacity I have ever known- not only as a multilingual interpreter, but in his special interest and knowledge of cultural competence, which impacts all aspects of our work and daily living.”
Hernando Pava, M.D. The Johns Hopkins Hospital
“Rob Stucky personifies professionalism, linguistic and cultural competence. He consistently exhibits a universal respect for diversity and an unmatched enthusiasm for sharing language expertise with his students. His manner, methodology, and personality serve to generate enlightened appreciation for Hispanic culture in conjunction with knowledge and familiarity with the language.”
Barbara Edwards Workforce Education Manager
“Having known Rob Stucky for over ten years as a close friend and colleague, I can say with certainty that he truly understands and celebrates cultural diversity and competence—not only on an intellectual level, but on a truly experiential level. His work has always sought to demonstrate the understanding we need to break down the barriers that separate us and bring us closer together as human beings.”
Chris Smith Multiple Award-Winning Filmmaker and Television Producer
I’ve known Rob Stucky for about 10 years now and I continue to learn from him every time we talk. It’s not just that his understanding of world culture and language is extraordinarily deep; what sets Rob apart is his innovative approach to teaching and comprehending cultural competence. When I first met Rob, he was my professor at UMBC in a religious studies class called “Jesus: From Man to God.” What sounded like an interesting seminar on Christian history turned out to be a profound exploration of the religious roots of cultures across the world. Rob had an incredible way of setting the most obtuse and arcane doctrines into a context and cultural logic that, when he’d finished explaining, I found myself all but slapping my forehead and exclaiming, “well, of course, why didn’t I see that?” The fact is, however, that I couldn’t have seen that, and I don’t know anyone else who could have either. Rob is a teacher, scholar and interpreter of rare gifts.
Rob’s understanding of cultural competence has roots in his life experience– in his 16 years of service as an Episcopal priest (where he delivered mass in Spanish and English, liberally peppered with Greek, Latin and Hebrew), in his 8 years of study with a famed Hindu monk (where he taught himself Hindi and Sanskrit), in his broad travels, and in his working knowledge of a dozen languages. But it’s not just his past and it’s not just an academic curiosity. Quite simply, Rob is not just an expert, but a teacher who lives his own curriculum. I can’t recommend strongly enough that Rob be given the widest possible platform to share his experience; he will be an extraordinary asset.
Jay Landon Perry Jay Perry Works Designer and front end developer, Graphic Design Former Associate Art Director, Discovery Communications
I have known Rob for 4 years while wearing various hats as Director of Pediatric Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Professor of Pediatrics and Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has been invaluable to me as an interpreter at the Harriet Lane Clinic and more critically as a consultant for special issues related to cultural competency for practitioners and staff in my division. Rob’s background reads like a novel, his religious training brings special sensitivities, his fluency in at least 6 languages is an incredible asset, and his world experiences on several continents are invaluable.
Bernard A. Cohen, M.D. Department of Pediatric Dematology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
