Dr. Schroeder is the President of the World Blind Union, an organization representing the needs of the estimated 253 million blind and partially sighted people around the globe.

Dr. Schroeder has lead the WBU’s work to establish an international standard requiring electric and hybrid vehicles to emit a minimum alert sound when traveling at slow speeds. Electric and hybrid vehicles are nearly silent when traveling below 20 KPH, making pedestrian accidents more frequent. Before expanding his work to the international stage, Dr. Schroeder had a long history of advocacy in the United States at the local, state and national levels. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Dr. Schroeder to serve as the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration—the federal agency that provides the majority of the funding for employment and independent living services for people with disabilities in the U.S. Today, Dr. Schroeder is a research professor with San Diego State University.