Suzanne Elise Walsh (born ) is an American academic administrator serving as the 19th president of

Bennett College Bennett College is a private university, private historically black colleges and universities, historically black liberal arts college, liberal arts Women's colleges in the Southern United States, college for women in Greensboro, North Carolin ...

since 2019.

Biography

Walsh was born in . Walsh earned an associate degree in applied science from

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other par ...

. Walsh earned an undergraduate degree in social work from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. She completed a M.S.W. and J.D. from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

. Walsh worked at the

Heinz Endowments The Heinz Endowments is a philanthropic organization in the United States, and was formed with the combined support from two smaller, private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. It awards more than $60 million a ...

. Until 2018, Walsh was the deputy director of postsecondary education at the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. In 2018, Walsh stepped down from the Foundation to work as an independent consultant, founding Discerning SEWLutions, LLC. In 2019, Walsh resided in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. On August 1, 2019, Walsh became the 19th president of

, succeeding interim president Gwendolyn O’Neal. In 2022, she joined the national advisory board of the Institute for Emerging Issues.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Suzanne Elise Living people 1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Hudson Valley Community College alumni Cornell University alumni Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation people Bennett College faculty Heads of historically black universities and colleges in the United States Women heads of universities and colleges 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American women academics African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators