Susan Herbst

Professor and President Emeritus

Political Science

Susan Herbst was appointed as the 15th President of the University of Connecticut on December 20, 2010, by the University’s Board of Trustees. She stepped down as President on July 1, 2019 and returned to the faculty. She teaches at the Stamford campus, where she is University Professor of Political Science and President Emeritus.

Prior to her appointment to the presidency, Herbst served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of the University System of Georgia, where she led 15 university presidents and oversaw the academic missions for all 35 public universities in Georgia.  Before coming to Georgia, Herbst was Provost and Executive Vice President at The University at Albany (SUNY), and also served as Officer in Charge (acting president) of the school from 2006 to 2007.  She previously served as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University.

Born in New York City and raised in Peekskill, NY, Herbst received her B.A. in Political Science from Duke University in 1984, and her Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles in 1989.

Herbst joined Northwestern University as an assistant professor in 1989 and remained there until 2003.  At Northwestern she served in many capacities, including Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department.  Dr. Herbst is a scholar of public opinion, media, and American politics, and is author of five books and many articles in these areas.  Along with Lawrence R. Jacobs, Adam J. Berinsky and Frances Lee, she edits the University of Chicago Press Studies in American Politics. Her most recent book, A Troubled Birth: The 1930s and American Public Opinion, was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.