Susan M. Davis joined Northwestern as Vice President for Student Affairs in April 2023. As Vice President for Student Affairs, she oversees a division of 30 departments with responsibilities for cultivating and supporting student life across the undergraduate and graduate experience. Her areas of responsibility include counseling and wellness, career advising and development, residential services and dining, inclusion and belonging, finance and human resources, marketing and assessment, and the bookends of the student experience, orientation and graduation.
She previously served as Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Virginia (UVA), following more than two decades working in law and higher education. Davis joined the Division of Student Affairs at UVA in 2004, where her background as the university’s Associate General Counsel and Special Assistant Attorney General helped her respond to the many legal aspects of student life at UVA. She served in a number of leadership roles at UVA, beginning as Special Advisor to the Vice President and twice serving as the Acting Vice President for Student Affairs.