Biography: Dr. Suzanne M. Rivera
Contact
Dr. Suzanne M. RiveraPresident and
Professor of Public Affairs
651-696-6207
Weyerhaeuser 208
president@macalester.edu
Dr. Suzanne M. Rivera is Macalester College’s 17th president. Having worked in higher education for more than 25 years, Dr. Rivera is an accomplished leader, instructor, researcher, and scholar. She is an advocate for social justice and brings a strong commitment to inclusion and equity to her role as president.
Prior to her appointment at Macalester, Rivera had academic and leadership roles at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio; UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas; and the University of California-Irvine.
As President of Macalester, Rivera also participates in numerous civic and professional organizations. She is the Chair of the MIAC Presidents Council, Chair of the Board of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Private College Council and the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Locally, she serves as a trustee of the Science Museum of Minnesota and of College Possible. Dr. Rivera also is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Forum.
A national expert in research ethics, Dr. Rivera has published numerous articles, essays, and book chapters that explore the moral dimensions of science, including informed consent for research, use of human specimens, and protection of research subject privacy. She co-edited the book Specimen Science, published by MIT Press in 2017. More recently, her public speaking and writing has been focused on the value of higher education, the importance of expanding access to college, and the role educators can play in fostering a healthy democracy.
Dr. Rivera earned her BA in American Civilization from Brown University, a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California-Berkeley, and a doctorate in Public Affairs with an emphasis on health policy from the University of Texas at Dallas.
She and her husband, American Literature scholar Dr. Michael Householder, have two adult children, Antonio (married to Eliza) and Elena.
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