Lea P. Stewart

Lea P. Stewart has been a faculty member at Rutgers for over 40 years. Her current research focuses on issues of dangerous drinking prevention among college students with a particular interest in the needs of college students in recovery. She works to link interpersonally based prevention strategies with mass-mediated campaigns targeting college students’ drug and alcohol use. She was a co-developer of the RU SURE Campaign. She was an early proponent of experiential learning, and two of her books, "Changing the Culture of College Drinking" (with Linda Lederman) and "Communication and Human Behavior" (6th edition with Brent Ruben) are used in several undergraduate communication classes.

She has received more than $5 million in funding for projects relating to communication and health issues among college students from the U.S. Department of Education, the N.J. Department of Health (Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services), and others. Her international experiences include providing technical assistance to Moldova State University and the University of Balamand in Lebanon in the development of their civic engagement programs and serving as a mentor for a Fulbright Scholar visiting Rutgers. 

Stewart is a faculty affiliate of the Rutgers Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies and participates in the Rutgers Addiction Research Center. As director of the Center for Communication and Health Issues, she oversees projects that support students in the Rutgers Collegiate Recovery Program as well as outreach efforts to deliver social norms messaging about dangerous drinking and messaging to reducing stigmatized language concerning substance use disorder.

Ph.D., Communication, Purdue University
M.A., Communication, Purdue University
B.A., Psychology, Allegheny College

Center for Communication and Health Issues (CHI)
Health and Wellness Cluster