Dr. Blane Trautwein is the Program Director of the Deaf Education and Hearing Science (DEHS) Program at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. He was formerly a teacher and later principal at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children. Dr. Trautwein has an undergraduate degree in deaf education and graduate/doctoral degrees in educational leadership.

Dr. Trautwein is recognized as a national leader in the field of deaf education with an emphasis on listening and spoken language. He has co-presented and co-authored about the topic of reciprocal peer coaching/mentoring in the professional preparation and continuing education of deaf education educational faculty. The DEHS Program was awarded a Department of Education/Office Special Education and Rehabilitative Services personnel preparation grant recognizing research in this area in 2010 and 2013. Dr. Trautwein has served as a national reviewer for the Department of Education and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. In 2012, Dr. Trautwein was awarded a University of Texas Health Science San Antonio Presidential Teaching Excellence Award.