Susan Elrod, Ph.D.
Executive Committee, Nomination & Governance Committee Chair, Audit Committee
Chancellor
Indiana University-South Bend
South Bend, IN
“The opportunity to contribute to the development of women leaders in higher education is extremely gratifying. My own journey would not have been possible without programs like HERS, so I am glad to lean, give back and help others in their leadership journeys.”
Dr. Susan Elrod began as the sixth chancellor of Indiana University South Bend on July 1, 2019. As Chancellor, she leads the university in achieving its mission to serve the communities of Northcentral Indiana. Elrod has over a decade of higher education leadership experience that includes serving as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Chico and as dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at California State University, Fresno.
As a leader, she has led significant strategic planning and enrollment management planning efforts as well as programs to improve faculty diversity and salary equity, revitalize support for research, launch new data systems, and implement new technological innovations. At UW-Whitewater, she led the university’s restructuring team to incorporate UW-Rock County as a new branch campus. Prior to these positions, she served as dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), where she led initiatives that enhanced support for research, expanded community and industry connections, and improved persistence of students in STEM programs. She was principal investigator of a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant that supported the redesign of introductory science and mathematics courses through a faculty-led learning community framework. She also created a new advising center in the College of Science and Mathematics in partnership with Student Affairs to improve student retention.
Elrod is a nationally recognized leader in STEM higher education on projects centered on leadership of institutional system change in higher education as a scholar, leader, project advisor, and consultant. Her scholarly record contains over 20 publications on topics ranging from undergraduate research and to systemic change and leadership, as well as several scientific publications and patents.
Elrod was a postdoctoral fellow at Novozymes, Inc. in Davis, CA and holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis and a B.S. in Biological Science from California State University, Chico.
