Cynthia Toms has a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University, specializing in
global health education and food systems. She has held posts as assistant director of the Center
for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame and taught at Peking University and Huija
Private College in Beijing, China.
Since coming to Santa Barbara in 2013, Dr. Toms has partnered with the Food Bank of Santa
Barbara to research food security along with her students at Westmont College as the Associate
Professor of Kinesiology and Global Studies. Dr. Tom’s research focuses on the intersection of
student volunteerism and international development. Her dissertation entitled “Global
Development Through International Volunteerism and Service Learning: Who’s Saving
Whom?” was awarded Dissertation of the Year by both the Comparative International Education
Society (CIES) and the International Association for Research in Service-learning and
Community Engagement (IARSLCE). She also serves on the editorial board for globalsl.org, a
web-based initiative of scholars amassing evidence-based tools and peer-reviewed research to
advance best practices in global service, community-university partnership, and sustainable
development.