Susan R. Burns, Ph.D., to Receive the 2027 Courageous Leadership Award

Carnegie Higher Ed

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Carnegie is pleased to announce that University of Mount Saint Vincent President Susan R. Burns, Ph.D., has been selected as the recipient of the 2027 Courageous Leadership Award. The annual award honors a college or university president whose strategic vision, student focus, and collaborative spirit have moved their institution forward in meaningful ways.

“President Burns epitomizes what it takes to be a visionary, bold leader. Her ambition, execution, and tireless dedication to accessible, practically minded education are creating opportunities for a new generation of University of Mount Saint Vincent students. She leads with a collaborative posture that honors tradition and drives innovation— an inspiring model in higher education,” said Emma Jones, Executive Vice President, Leadership, at Carnegie.

Since assuming the presidency in 2021, Burns has led the nearly 180-year-old New York City university through a landmark transformation. In 2024, she guided the successful transition from the College of Mount Saint Vincent to the University of Mount Saint Vincent. The advancement reflects an ongoing expansion of the University’s reach, academic offerings, and impact as it reinforces its mission and ties to the founders: the Sisters of Charity of New York.

Burns hopes her example demonstrates courage “to adapt how we do things while remaining grounded in why we do them, and to help others recognize and trust their own capacity to lead,” she said. Courageous leadership is measured by “the doors we open, the people we empower, and the lasting difference we make together.”

“At its heart and in its best form, leadership is an act of service to others. It requires listening carefully, recognizing the potential in others, and being honest about the challenges we face while finding hope in what is possible,” Burns said. “At the University of Mount Saint Vincent, our mission calls us to respond boldly to the signs of the times. That responsibility asks us to question familiar ways of doing things and make difficult decisions, sometimes before everyone is comfortable.”

A psychologist and nationally recognized educator, Burns has fostered a new academic college structure at Mount Saint Vincent while overseeing major capital projects; securing significant private and public funding; and expanding access to online, graduate, and international programs. Her emphasis on affordability, flexibility, and access recognizes that traditional models require reimagination to reach more learners.

Under Burns, milestones at Mount Saint Vincent include the formation of Seton College, a two-year associate degree program for students with high academic and financial need. Recent affordability initiatives at the University range from Flex15, which provides an undergraduate pathway at $15,000 a year, to the Vincentian Promise, which helps Pell Grant-eligible New Yorkers cover the gap between financial aid and tuition and fees.

Known for centering students in all institutional decisions, Burns takes the time to know students as individuals, said Joretta Nelson, Senior Executive Advisor of Strategy and Student Success at Carnegie. Burns understands student needs and develops opportunities that fuel their achievement and success, setting a high standard of excellence, Nelson explained.

“At a moment when higher education’s value is being questioned, Susan Burns champions its transformational power with conviction, urgency, and the courage to speak truth and hope in the same breath,” Nelson said. “To meet Susan is to glimpse what collaboration among higher education, industry, and community can accomplish for individual lives, family trees, and a region and state.”

As part of her leadership, Burns is reinforcing professional pathways. The new College of Tech and Trade at Mount Saint Vincent integrates workforce skills and industry credentials with the liberal arts, while the Braven Career and Leadership Accelerator provides students with mentorship, professional networks, and practical career preparation. Burns played instrumental roles, too, in developing a master’s program in physician assistant studies, the first of its kind in the Bronx; the University of Mount Saint Vincent Conservatory and community music school; and CHARISM: the Catholic Higher Education Alliance of Rising Institutions in Service and Mission, a collaboration among four institutions to expand academic opportunities. She led the establishment of the Dedication to Community Justice Institute, encouraging Mount Saint Vincent’s efforts around justice and community transformation.

Previously a senior academic leader at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, and Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, Burns is an advocate for student research and mentorship. She has sponsored student publications and authored scholarly articles and textbooks, including “Psychology of Sex and Gender” and “Human Relations for the Educator: Meeting the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow.” She holds board seats at the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, the International University of Kuwait, and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, among other leadership roles.

The Courageous Leadership Award will be presented at Carnegie’s Presidential Appreciation Dinner to be held January 5, 2027, during the CIC Presidents Institute in San Diego.

Previous recipients of the Courageous Leadership Award: