Susan Catron, Dean of UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
Susan Catron, M.P.P.A., Ed.D., is Dean of UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education, a self-supporting, $40 million academic division of the university. From developing pioneering online academic programs to building successful partnerships with campus and industry, Catron has led innovative continuing and professional education efforts at UC Davis for more than 20 years.
As the division’s Chief Academic Officer and Strategic Leader, Catron oversees a team of more than 200 academic and professional staff who serve over 70,000 learners from more than 100 countries each year. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from UC Davis, and a master’s in public policy from California State University, Sacramento. Her research has focused on program innovation, online educational quality, and educational accountability.
Catron brings diverse expertise to her leadership of the division, having previously served as director of Marketing, department chair, associate dean for Program Innovation, and most recently as senior associate dean, where she led academic planning and governance for the division. Catron has developed and led programs in K-12 education, autism, public policy, health services, public health, business, technology and management. Her professional background also includes a brief tenure as a policy analyst in the California State Legislature.