Susan Elrod is the former chancellor of Indiana University South Bend (2019-2024) and a national leader in STEM and higher education leadership. Her higher education leadership experience spans over two decades in three university systems in the United States -- the California State University (CSU) system, the University of Wisconsin (UW) system, and Indiana University (IU) – and roles including dean, provost and chancellor. Throughout her career, she has used an entrepreneurial mindset and a shared leadership approach to achieve goals that result in meaningful progress and lasting change.
Her national experience began when she served as the executive director of Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC and continued as a founding member of the Coalition for Reform of Undergraduate STEM Education (CRUSE), a consortium of higher education associations and scientific organizations. Her scholarship has resulted in over 30 publications on topics ranging from undergraduate research to systemic change and leadership, as well as several scientific publications and patents. She also serves on numerous national advisory boards as well as committees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). Her scholarship has resulted in over 30 publications on topics ranging from undergraduate research to systemic change and leadership, as well as several scientific publications and patents. She is co-author of the Change Leadership Toolkit (2023) and Shared Leadership in Higher Education (2022).
Elrod holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis and an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from California State University, Chico where she also served as President of the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and was inducted into the Omicron Theta Epsilon Biological Sciences Honor Society. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Novozymes, Inc. in Davis, California, was an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow at Colorado College, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
