Creating the Future with Dr. Susan Edwards
Dr. Susan Edwards is the eighth president of Wright State University. As a first-generation college student herself, she is personally committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive campus where all students have the opportunity to succeed.
Listen to our conversation with Sue to learn more about her fascinating background, her dedication to student success, and the future she wants to create right here in Dayton, Ohio.
Learn more about Wright State University and follow Sue on LinkedIn.
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Episode Transcript:
David Bowman: Welcome to creating the future. I’m David Bowman…
Evelyn Ritzi: And I’m Evelyn Ritzi
David: and today we are joined by Dr Susan Edwards, president of Wright State University, my alma mater.
Dr. Susan Edwards: Nice to be here. This is exciting.
David: So President Edwards is a visionary leader focused on recruitment, retention and relationships, and since she took office in 2020, Wright State University has made significant strides in student success and strengthening community partnerships. We are so excited to hear from her today and learn how she uses creativity in her daily life. So let’s get started. Tell us first a little bit about your background, how? And a little bit how do your past, your story, your life, how do all those experiences influence the creativity and the energy you bring into the world?
Sue: So that’s a good question. And sometimes I question about my creativity and but, you know, I am a first-generation student. My parents were immigrants to Australia. I moved to Australia when I was two from the UK, and, you know, we were discussing Bluey a little earlier. And really, I think that’s where, you know, growing up in Australia in the 60s and 70s, you had a lot of freedom to explore and try new things, and that’s something I was always doing. But my parents were working class. Both of them had not finished high school, and my dad was a metal worker, and my mom was a stenographer back in the day, you know, shorthand and, yeah, and you know that my mom always just said me, you’ve got to take this shorthand. You take shorthand and typing, because this science thing probably isn’t going to work out. So they had faith in me, but it was they never stopped me from sort of pursuing what I wanted to do. And I kind of just sort of grew up in an environment where I could try anything, and in an era when we were told we could do absolutely anything we wanted to. And so I went to work after school in the forensic lab. I got a summer job, which in turn turned into a full-time job, and the rest is kind of history, but I worked all the way through, like I worked 40 hours a week, all the way through my associate’s degree, and then same with my bachelor’s degree. And then I happened to go into research after eight years of forensics, because that was a whole other thing, and they gave me the opportunity to get my master’s. So the only time I was ever a full time student was when I was a PhD student.. And by that stage, I was 30, with a one year old. So very, non-traditional, very, you know, I guess scrappy. That’s sort of the word I would use, you know, in Australia, you know, it’s all about the hard work, and you put in the hard work. But it gave me a perspective. So when I interviewed here at Wright State, the students were me, you know, they were they were me. They were working-class kids who are working their way to pay for school, who I just felt akin to, and that’s what gives me my enthusiasm, is the fact that, you know, every day I get to go to work, and every day I’m working for my students, and how to make a better, you know, a better experience for our students and give them opportunities. So for me, you know, I joke with the students that I feed off their energy, and that’s really where I get my energy and creativity. You know, it kind of makes me mad when people say that, you know, well, you’re creative. You should go into the arts. And I’m like, No, you have to be incredibly creative to be a scientist and imaginative and and really think outside the box. And so I think really that’s sort of in a leadership role. You’re kind of utilizing all the skills that you’ve attained on your journeys in different aspects and putting them into play. I don’t class myself. Was incredibly creative. But you know, just learning to think outside the box sometimes is a good thing.
David: Absolutely, I think it’s interesting, because when we talk about creativity and the creative process and for working for clients, a key ingredient to that is empathy, right? And so what you’re describing to me is that ability to – you’re walking around campus every day seeing yourself and saying, I understand what these kids are going through and how hard that can be, and I want to make it easier for them than I had.
Sue: I mean, that’s essentially it in a nutshell. I mean, there is nothing else I think about than you know, what our students are having to go through each and every day in order for them to achieve their goals. And, you know, there are some kids out there that are working two, three jobs, you know, put themselves through school and are taking massive loads to get done quicker. And I just, I sit there, and I’m just in awe of them, because I just know, you know, the path that they walk, and they’ve got amazing work ethic. And I think that, to me is, you know, that part of emotional intelligence we hear, you know, we hear quite often that this generation, you know, don’t understand work ethic. I will tell you this generation that I dealing with each and every day understand work ethic, because they are having to work hard to really live their dream. And for me, it’s all about that, right? It’s all about how do I provide opportunity for anybody, regardless of your age, regardless of your socioeconomic status, how do I provide you that opportunity to further yourself in a way that you wish to and you know, I was asked the other day, how do you measure success? And I said, I measure success every graduation. I measure success with the relationships that I form with those students that at graduation I’m able to be so excited for them, because I know how hard they work to get there. That is, is what it’s all about. It’s all about people. The work that we do is all about people and providing those people with opportunities. That’s, that’s what it’s all about.
David: So on, on the topic of college education, right in the younger generation and kind of how, how we view college Yeah, a lot of students and families right now are very carefully weighing the return on the investment in a college education, absolutely. And a lot of times we measure that with a metric like starting salary, yes, not a bad metric, earning potential, another one that’s good. And I think those are important. But like any metrics right in isolation, they can sometimes be misleading or not always paint the full picture. And so when I think about like the college experience, there’s immense value in the growth, the worldview shaping that you experience on a college campus. I remember, you know, my time at Wright State, just being exposed to so many different people from so many different places who thought about the world differently than I did, and to even come to the realization that people, people do, think differently than you, is an eye-opening experience. And so I think, you know, at a time when, like, you know, curiosity, empathy, like we talked about, are so crucial, how do we balance the ROI piece of college with, you know, the experience of college, yeah, well,
Sue: I think, you know, a lot of the conversation around ROI is centered on cost, right? What it costs to go to college, and then what is the return on that investment that you’re making? You know, I will probably be excommunicated. But, you know, there’s multiple pathways, and I think that’s the piece we’ve lost track of. You know, not everybody is ready for college at any given point in time. You know, I think that’s the piece that we we need to understand, first and foremost, that everybody has their own journey and whatever, timing-wise. And David, you and I have spoken about your college experience…
David: That’s a different podcast, for a different day [Laughs]
Sue: but, you know? But I think that’s the thing, right? There’s the traditional 18 to 24 year old that’s coming to college, you know, because it’s the expectation that they go to college. And then there’s the 24 to 65, 70 year old that’s coming to college for very different reasons. And so that’s the uniqueness about Wright State. We’re not just traditionally 18 to 24-year-olds, you know, I think. The eldest graduate, eldest undergraduate. I had this this spring, was 65 years old. And you know, and when you hear their stories and you understand that, you know it wasn’t an option for them at 18, but they kept persisting because it was something in their mind that they always wanted to do, that’s when you really understand the true value of education and that true ROI because they had a very different experience, because they brought that life experience in. And I think when you have those groups coming together, they’re bringing all of their different life experiences to your point that you actually get an education within an education, we have a lot of veterans on our campus. They bring a very different perspective in. And so when you talk about education and the college experience, it’s so many different things to different people, and not being a truly traditional sorority fraternity, even though we have sororities and fraternities. But not being that typical residence institution just adds a whole different level to Wright State than you would get if you were at, you know, one of those residential universities. So I think from that perspective, you know, it’s the world experience that you get because of all those different people that are there. I think one of the things that we’ve lost, in some ways, is the ability to understand that people think differently, right? And how do you have those conversations? And I think that’s the piece that we’ve really got to foster and get back, and it comes from empathy and understanding and understanding where one individual is may not be where the other individual is, and really learning to have sort of civil discussions, and understanding that sometimes it’s okay to agree to disagree. It’s not you’re right, and I’m wrong. It’s okay, we just have different worldviews. Yeah, and so I think that’s what college is truly about at many levels, is that emotional intelligence component that we get from, you know, critically thinking, that we get for asking questions, that we get from interpreting data and understanding that not everything out there in in the electronic world is actually accurate. And how do we teach you as an individual to delve into that and determine your own answer, as opposed to just taking what’s on X or, you know, a particular website. So it’s challenging, yeah, you know, I think that’s the thing that we forget nowadays, is that, you know, our younger generation are being bombarded by information every single minute of every single day. We were never bombarded with that information. We had the luxury of picking up a newspaper, and if you were so inclined, reading through that newspaper, that’s the only way you were going to get your information, whereas now our kids are getting it to them second by second every single day, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. So how do we prepare them for that? I think that’s that’s the challenge for us right now as as an educational institution is providing them with the skill sets that we’ve always provided, but in relevance to what they’re dealing with in today’s society.
David: Well, I think the future they face is, I think it’s optimistic, right in terms of looking ahead, but it’s so much less certain than when, when we were growing up in in that era where it was, well, you’ll get a job, you’ll stay there, you’ll work and retire and have a pension. And when they talk about kids not having a work ethic, I think these kids today are so incredibly entrepreneurial and creative.
Sue: They’re incredibly having to figure it out, yes, and they’re having to figure it out. And I think, you know, they’re figuring it out a lot younger. Oh yeah, then probably we did at that time, and I used the we because I just, you know, I don’t remember talking about entrepreneurism when I was at school. Absolutely I never, I mean, really, it was not a word that we utilized. You know, starting your own business was a, was a unique concept, because, you know, you went to work for somebody. Certainly, my working-class parents would have said, you know, well, you’ve got to get a good job and you’ve got to, you know, they still don’t know what I do, let alone why I have to do it on the other side of the planet. But, you know, that’s the piece that I think has changed so much so, the ROI on education, I don’t. Think is singular. I think it’s multifaceted. And I think, you know, I can provide anybody with an opportunity to learn something, but it’s the interpretation, the creativity, the understanding and the empathy and compassion. That’s not something I can always teach. You can educate people in it, but I’m not sure it’s something that you it’s not like a class, you know, right? It’s part of the journey where you develop all of those skill sets, and that comes from all the people that you’re interacting with, you know you’ll interact with a wide variety at Wright State. You know you’ll interact with students with disabilities that you may never have ever. You know, come across in your lifetime before, and you’ll see how well integrated our students with disabilities are, so much so that you know they’re students, that they’re, yeah, they’re zooming around on their wheelchairs, and they’re they’re involved, they’re engaged, and just like any other student, yeah, you may never have come across that before. And so having those conversations and understanding that people are different each and every day, I think that’s part of the journey, and that’s probably where you learned a lot about yourself. Oh, my goodness, you know, in in that time.
David: I mean, what I learned in the classroom was so valuable, I still use it every single day, right? As a political science graduate, I’m in marketing, but all of those principles and the things you learn hold but I think even more so, it’s that learning how to learn and learning how to learn from other people, and you’re the perfect example of education prepares you for the journey, right? And so you started out in biology and science, and then you went into medicine and that piece of science, and halfway around the planet, to Boone, North Carolina, to Dayton, Ohio. And at each step that curiosity and creativity and knowing, like, oh, maybe I want to learn about that. Right? You described to me you chose, chose to go down a path because, well, I don’t really, I’m not great at this, this and this, so I’m going to force myself to get better, yeah, which is like the coolest thing. I
Sue: I mean, that’s part of, I mean, that’s the great joy of learning something new. There’s never a dull moment. I mean, your life is never boring when you’re open to learn something new, right? And for me, I get excited by learning something new. I mean, everything that you do like I’m learning something new each and every day, even now and so I it’s just a constant. It’s constant learning and people need to understand just when you finish college or when you finish high school, when you finish college, it doesn’t end there. All it’s doing is giving you the skill sets to continue that process elsewhere. You know, you talk about that journey, and, you know, I started off in forensics, so very different world. And then I went into neuroscience, completely different. And then I worked on Hagfish.
David: a totally cool world, a very cool world…
Sue: And now I run a university, and it’s mind-blowing, but you’ve but if I was to look back and be honest, doing all of those things helped me develop a skill set that prepared me for the role that I’m in now, even though you wouldn’t be able to have connected the dots had you tried to connect them at the time, yeah, you know, now, Looking back, I understand it, but, you know, I’m always, I’m always learning something new. That’s kind of the fun part.
David: Absolutely.
Evelyn: And it feels like you approach leadership in that way too, of being so approachable to students, and you know, they, they can see you around campus and say, “Hi, Sue,” and yeah, you know that aspect of building relationships even with your students on that personal level is so unique, I think, based on my experience.
Sue: They are the only reason I get out of bed, the only reason, you know, I love my family, don’t get me wrong, but, but from a drive point of view, you know, they’re the reason that you do the work. And I’d do that work regardless of whatever position I was in, you know, I love being in the classroom and teach quite often, because I love it, and yes, it’s a lot of work, and credit off to everybody that does it, because it isn’t a lot of work. But I just couldn’t imagine not having that connection to the students, and I want to be invested in each of their stories, because each of their story is unique and different. And you know, that’s how I learn is through their eyes, because they’re out there living in today and talking to me about what their challenges are and how I can help them. Them, what we can what bureaucracy we can destroy so that we can make it easier. Because I think higher ed tends to create bureaucracies, but we’re also in the position where we can remove them too. And so, you know, having those without the interaction with the students, how would I know where the challenges lie. And so, you know, my job is to make their their experience easier from a simplification standpoint, that they don’t have to take a piece of paper to 12 offices, and that they’re getting the maximum experience. You know, I say to every undergraduate class, your job is to really suck the life out of the campus every single day, because that’s what we’re here for. We’re here for you. The services are here for you, and if you don’t utilize them, you know that’s that’s not going to help you. So here are the services. Make the most of them, and you’ll be incredibly successful.
Evelyn: And some of those, I know you’ve done a lot of work around mental health, and that’s a huge topic. It is for students of that age group and coming out of the collective trauma of a pandemic and trying to fulfill your education. So I think kudos to you all.
Sue: Well, you know, I think it’s important, I mean that I always say our students are humans first and foremost, and the only way humans can be successful is for them to be healthy. And whether that’s physical or mental health, you know, that’s that’s really how, if you start behind the eight ball there. How come? How can you you’re always playing catch up. So we’ve been very proactive. And in fact, we’re the first institution in Ohio that’s actually mandating that all faculty and staff must be trained in in Mental Health First Aid,
David: That’s fantastic.
Sue: Yeah, you know, you I talked to Deb Feldman, and the number one, you know, admissions at Dayton Children’s is mental health, suicide, ideation. It wasn’t even on their radar 10 years ago, and now it’s number one, so big that they’re increasing, you know, they’re just building a new wing for inpatient care. They’re our future students. So why, why would we not prepare ourselves to serve those students in any way we possibly can? And so that’s really why we’ve taken such a proactive approach. If you’re not healthy, you know you’re you’re really starting behind the eight ball.
David: Well, especially at Wright State, you have so many first-generation college students who college is hard enough, but then when there’s not an expectation, or there’s not sort of role models that you’ve seen do it, or can tell you how, I mean, talk about stress.
Sue: Well, you know. And again, I come back to, you know, this science thing probably isn’t going to work out that’s, that’s one voice, you know, and I’ve heard so many of them in my — you think you’re better than us. You know, that’s the sort of that those conversations are happening in people’s living rooms and, you know, and it’s unfortunate, but we need to be the support network that says yes you can, and yes, we will stand beside you as you’ll you go on this journey. And I think that, if you I don’t know, that just is my philosophy that, and I don’t know where it comes from, I just think it to me, it’s just being a decent human, first and foremost. And that’s really what I want all of our students to experience, is that human touch first and foremost. When they come in and I tell them, you know at orientation, you’re humans first, students second, and we’re going to make sure that you know you’re as successful as you possibly want to be, no matter what you want to do. If you want to be a phenomenal ceramic artist, then how do we help you get there? If you want to be a Doc, how do we help you get there? If you want to be an engineer, you want to work on the Base, how do we give you a roadmap that shows you your pathway, and you might change your mind, and it’s okay, yeah, I think my son changed his mind multiple times, but it’s one of those things that you have to really give the students the freedom and the support so that they can make choices, and sometimes they’re not going to work, and you’ve got to be there to make sure they understand that when they don’t work, it’s not the end of the world. Because I think that’s the thing that we’ve really — fear of failure is a huge part of a lot of a lot of this mental health.
David: Absolutely.
Sue: and just saying it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to fail, and it’s okay. We’re gonna be here with you, but you’ve gotta learn something from that failure, and sometimes they’re really tough lessons to learn. You know, I tell kids, I fail all the time, all the time. I’ve made some really ridiculous decisions in my life, but you learn from them and you move on.
David: Absolutely, and it’s a huge — fear of failure is a huge impediment to creative expression, right?
Sue: I think it just kills creativity. If you’re frightened all the time of failing, how can you be creative? And sometimes I think we, and you’ve I think you’ve heard me say this before. I think we educate creativity out. Not only in higher ed, but also in in high school. And
David: Oh, for sure.
Sue: I think middle school. I always think science is so creative and energetic to you get to middle school and then high school, I don’t know what happens, and then it’s not as fun anymore because you’re not being a creator, yes. And I mean, really, it’s people say, Oh, you must be smart. No, I’m not. I just It’s exciting. It’s kind of cool to find out how things tick. Yeah. So it’s, how do we foster that enthusiasm? And let students know it’s okay to try something and for it not to work out. I wanted to be a lawyer. That’s how I got into science. [Laughs]. I wanted to be a lawyer. I would have been a terrible lawyer. I would have been a horrible lawyer, but I took the job in the forensic lab in the summer because I thought I’d learn more about law, the criminal side of law, and I fell in love with the science, you know. So I think you’ve got to try something. And you never know. I always say, if an adventure, if an opportunity comes along, assess it, if it’s really not for you, then don’t go down that pathway. But don’t live your whole life regretting that you didn’t take the opportunity absolutely and if you think that that’s the way you’re going to be, you should have taken it so I wouldn’t be sitting here in front of you. Otherwise I would, I would not be living on the other side of the planet, and I’d be probably in my lab in Australia, still doing what I was doing. True. But there was an opportunity, and I thought, What an adventure. Let’s go.
David: So, when you think of adventure, I think of you as somebody that’s like, fearless, right? Not reckless,
Sue: No,
David: but fearless. You are somebody that you just bring energy with you, and it’s good energy, right? Where does that come from? What do you how do you sort of recharge the batteries? Or where do you find inspiration that then, you know, allows you to bring that to pretty much everybody you come in contact with.
Sue: Well, for me, you know, I’m not always the shining, you know, enthusiastic individual. You know, there are I’m an introvert, which you would not, you might not know, but I’m an introvert, right? And so there are those moments where I have to, kind of have that I’d need five minutes just to
Evelyn: Recharge the batteries.
Sue: Recharge the batteries. But if I’m having you know, the occasional bad day, you’ll find me walking around campus again, because that’s what I’m there for, and it’s my students that give me the energies, my students that give me my enthusiasm and what a better group of people to be a champion for. It really is the students. And it sounds, it might sound hard to believe, but that’s it. Yeah, that is truly it. I’m sure my husband and son would say, Oh, she’s not that sunshine and light all the time. But really, on a day to day basis, my energy comes from the work I do with my students and from getting to know them and spending time with them and watching their stories. I mean, I still, you know, have connections with students that graduated a long time ago, but they stay in contact. You know, whether it’s a wedding or a child being born or changing jobs or getting tenure or whatever it is, you know, you’re on that journey with them, and it’s nice that they take you along with, you know, with them. But really, that’s, it’s, it’s simple. It’s just them at the end of the day. That’s, that’s where it comes from.
David: It shows. You can see it.
Sue: It’s easy when it’s real, and yes, and you know, it’s easy when you know, I mean, I would tell you if I’m having…sometimes, you know, there’s, it’s not much fun being a president. You know, sometimes it’s not much fun being a president, and so I go out there and I’m reminded why I do the work, why you have to sometimes make really difficult decisions, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, ensuring that Wright State is here for the long game, not only for those students, but the next generation of students and the generations to come and for our region, I mean you, as I walked in here, you know how many connections to Wright State are here in this room, we already just, you know, and that’s every room that you walk into in Dayton. And so that’s really, there’s an onus and a responsibility on us to make sure that we’re here for the long haul, as I like to way, way long after I’ve, you know, probably left the earth, that we will have, you know, a successful Wright State for the future. That’s, that’s really what it’s all about
David: That’s fantastic. Well, so when we talk about the future, from your work at Wright State here in the region, and Wright State has such a huge impact on this region. What does that future look like? What’s the future you aspire to create here in Dayton?
Sue: You know, that’s a good question, and
David: Evelyn wrote it [laughs]
Sue: Well done.
Evelyn: We ask all our guests that question.
Sue: That’s a tough question, because really, it’s not, sort of, it’s in the region, right? A thriving region where the economy is sound, the people are happy, you know, whatever that happy definition is, and that the region’s thriving, and Wright State is a part of that, because it’s an economic driver of this region. I mean, I have over 100,000 graduates that are living and working currently, still in this region. I’ve only given out 147,000 degrees.
David: That’s amazing.
Sue: It’s amazing, right? So when you think about that, that’s what the region looks like, and it makes you know that Wright Patt Air Force Base is here, thriving and attracting missions to it, not losing missions from it. That’s a big part of that. You know, Premier Health is still locally owned and is a thriving academic medical center, and now the people of Dayton no longer have to go outside of Dayton to receive incredibly high-quality care and get access to clinical trials that they currently don’t, that they’re the sort of things that’s why we’re investing in partnering with organizations. It’s to ensure that longevity of growth for the Dayton region. And somebody asked me this question, what makes Dayton so special? It’s people. It’s an amazing community, and I’m reminded of that every single day, and why wouldn’t you want to invest in that? So that’s, that’s my last I didn’t prep for that question. That’s just where that came from. It was just, it’s just the people you want to invest in a community that is invested in the people within it. You know, whether they’re in Beavercreek or they’re in downtown Dayton, or they’re in Huber Heights or Centerville, it all of what we call Raider country, that supports the entire region. You know, whether in Lima, you know that it’s all about those people.
David: A future where there are happy people helping each other out and making the world a better place, right?
Sue: Just, you know, absolutely — supporting one another. I think that’s the thing that I’ve seen this region do in times of, you know, trial and tribulation, getting behind one another. And, you know, in multitudes of ways, whether it’s, you know, dealing with grief after you know, the shootings in the Oregon District, whether it’s the tornadoes that rip through, you know, those sorts of experiences make communities tighter, and people really rose to the occasion to support each other, and that doesn’t happen everywhere. So Dayton’s special, it really is a special place to live. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here
Evelyn: Good.
Sue: And I think that’s because of the community, you know? I remember when I was interviewing side story, I remember my husband coming into the hotel room after I had already gotten home. He’d been out exploring with people, and he said, we are so moving here. [Laughs]. And I said, I don’t have the job yet. He said, You got, you got to do whatever you can to get the job, because we are moving here. And that was just one day, Wow, here in Dayton. And so that’s, it’s just, it’s a silly story, but it’s a true story. And you know, we’ve made our home here, our son has made their home here and so, you know, I think that’s — we don’t know how special we are in Dayton. Yeah. I think we need to learn how special we are and embrace it.
Evelyn: Yeah.
Sue: We need to embrace it, right? We need to embrace it, because it’s okay to be a fabulous community. I think most of us know it. We just need to embrace it well.
David: Thank you for being someone who makes this community what it is, which is a fabulous place.
Sue: Wow, thank you. I mean, it’s fun. I get to enjoy doing what I do. That’s what I want for everybody that I have in my care. You know, enjoy your work, because then it’s never work, okay? You know, even on those really terrible days, you’re just reminded that it’s it’s not about you. So thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.
David: Thank you for coming and sharing with us today!
