2018 Distinguished Service to SPSSI Award Recipient

Susan Dudley served as SPSSI’s Executive Director from 2006 through 2017, working alongside eleven SPSSI Presidents and a talented professional staff, through 24 Council meetings, nine SPSSI Conferences, and countless large and small projects.

Susan came to SPSSI with broad experience in the academic, advocacy, and non-profit communities. She earned her doctorate in neuroscience and physiological psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her NIH-sponsored post-doctoral research in the Department of ObGyn at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of the Penn State University Medical School led to appointments in psychology and biology at Auburn University and at the University of Maryland University College in its European, Asian, and College Park Divisions.

In Washington, Susan turned her attention to women’s health and reproductive rights policy advocacy, which she describes as a natural outgrowth of her research and academic background. She held program and executive positions with the National Abortion Federation, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Center for Research on Women & Families. 

A native of Virginia, Susan has lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. After retiring from SPSSI last year, she moved back to her hometown of Norfolk. She counts her experiences in implementing processes and procedures that ensured SPSSI’s financial health and stability, expanding its program capacity, aligning the Marshall Fellowship with the AAAS Congressional Fellowship Program, and facilitating the recent Central Office move to its current location among the most rewarding of her career.