Susan K. Avery

Susan K. Avery is president emerita of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, having served as president and director from 2008 to 2015. She also is professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB) where she served on the faculty and in administrative positions from 1982-2007.

Currently she is serving as a faculty affiliate in the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at UCB, is a member and chair of the board of trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and serves on the Exxon Mobil Corporation Board of Directors.

Avery holds a doctorate degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of Illinois and a bachelor of science degree in physics from Michigan State University. The author or co-author of more than 110 peer-reviewed articles and reports, she has given scientific presentations to a wide variety of lay and professional audiences. She has been active in congressional outreach, including testimony and briefings; in U.S. and international consortia dedicated to ocean research, observation and applications; and worked with the Governor’s committee to develop the Massachusetts Green Economy plan.

Her recent professional service includes the UN Science Advisory Board and advisory committees for the U.S. Global Change Research program, the Sustained National Climate Assessment, NASA, the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Avery is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society, for which she also served as president.

Awards and recognition include honorary degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; charter membership of the National Associate Program in the National Academy of Sciences; and an Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Illinois.