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Susan C. Aldridge is an American academic administrator, currently serving as president of Thomas Jefferson University.^[1] She was previously president of Drexel University Online. She was the president of University of Maryland University College, vice chancellor of the global campus at Troy University, and a professor of management, organizational behavior, and policy analysis at the National University of Singapore.

Aldridge completed a B.A. in Sociology/Psychology at Colorado Women's College in 1977. She attended the University of Colorado Denver where she obtained an M.P.A. in 1987 and then a Ph.D. in public administration, graduating in 1991.^[2] During this period she worked for the Denver Regional Council of Governments, initially as a planner and then as a division director.^[3]

From 1991 to 1994 Aldridge was a professor of management, organizational behavior, and policy analysis at the National University of Singapore where she conducted research on health and aging policy.^[4] In 1995, she was appointed director of the Western Region at Troy University in Alabama and promoted to vice chancellor of the global campus in 2001.^[3][4]

She was appointed president of University of Maryland University College in 2006. She resigned in 2012.^[5]

Aldridge later became a Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.^[6] In 2013 she joined Drexel University as senior vice president for online learning and president of Drexel University Online.^[7]

She is a trustee of Thomas Jefferson University. In the summer of 2023, she became its interim president.^[8] In May 2024, she was named president.^[9]

In 2007, Aldridge travelled to Chile and Brazil as part of a special delegation to promote U.S. higher education, led by former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.^[10] She served as both chair of the 2006 US-China Forum on Distance Education,^[3] as well as co-chair of the 2005 Department of Defense Task Force on Distance Learning Standards.^[3]

Aldridge was an elected board member of the International Academy of Business Disciplines,^[3] and a member of the NASULGC-Sloan National Commission on Online Learning.^[11] In 2008, she was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense to the Air University Board of Visitors,^[12] and later in 2015, to the Marine Corps University Board of Visitors.^[13]

In 2010, Aldridge was a recipient of the Women in Technology Global Impact Award.^[14] The Daily Record named her among Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2008,^[15] and the Most Influential Marylanders in 2009,^[16] and The Washingtonian recognized her as one of Washington's 100 Most Powerful Women in both 2009^[17] and 2011.^[18] In 2013, she was elected to the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame.^[19]

• Wired for Success: Real-world Solutions for Transforming Higher Education. (2014, American Association of State Colleges and Universities) ISBN 0880442506

• Official website