Susan Fritz

Dr. Susan Fritz, PhD serves as Senior Advisory Consultant to Harris Search Associates providing insight, national relationships, and vetting of candidates on behalf of client institution committees and our firm.

Susan M. Fritz recently retired after serving as the University of Nebraska’s Executive Vice President and Provost since 2012. She is currently Executive Vice President and Provost Emerita at University of Nebraska. She also served as Interim President of the University of Nebraska (NU) for nearly six months in 2019. During her tenure, Dr. Fritz established the Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS) in collaboration with Nebraska public higher education partners and the Nebraska Departments of Education and Labor. Dr. Fritz championed initiatives to increase the inclusivity of NU and its campuses through efforts such as establishing and supporting the work of the Non-binary Gender Values Committee. Throughout her career she successfully recruited, hired and developed numerous members of the NU system leadership team including President, Provosts, Deans, Vice Presidents, and senior staff.

Prior to serving as Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Fritz served as the NU Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Before joining the Provost’s Office, Dr. Fritz served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) and Interim Dean of the Agricultural Research Division at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). She also directed IANR’s international agricultural programs and is a former associate dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and department head of the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications (ALEC) program. She earned the rank of Professor in ALEC and had an appointment in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Dr. Fritz is a 1979 graduate of UNL; she received her master’s degree in 1989 and her Ph.D. in 1993, both from UNL. In 2009, Dr. Fritz was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence. She recently was honored with the Inspire Lincoln Excellence in Education award. She completed a Fulbright Senior Specialist assignment at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) and served as a Baldrige Examiner with the U S Department of Commerce.  Dr. Fritz served as a North Central Higher Learning Commission Consultant Evaluator; she is a Fulbright Senior Specialist Evaluator and APLU/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food Systems Leadership Institute Commissioner. Dr. Fritz recently accepted an appointment to the Fulbright U. S. Student Program National Screening Committee.