SUSAN J. KOCH
Vice President, University of Illinois
Chancellor, Springfield Campus
As Chancellor, Susan Koch is responsible for providing leadership for the operations and programs of UIS, whose strategic directions include liberal arts education, public affairs, and professional programs.
Previously, Dr. Koch was the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Northern Michigan University, where she served from 2007 to 2011. Before joining NMU, she was the associate provost and dean of the Graduate College at the University of Northern Iowa, where she was also a professor of health education.
Dr. Koch holds a tenured faculty position in the College of Education and Human Services at UIS. Her scholarship and teaching focus on health education, international health, conflict resolution, and health and human rights. Dr. Koch is the author of numerous scholarly and creative publications and was co-founder of the UNI Global Health Corps, a field-based organization that provides public health services to underserved populations in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Koch holds academic degrees from Dakota State University in South Dakota and the University of Northern Iowa. She is married to Dennis Koch, an executive sales manager for an agricultural seed company, and farmer, and they have four grown children.
UIS serves over 5,000 students in 44 undergraduate and graduate programs in four colleges, with an annual operating budget of approximately $82 million. The university has earned a national reputation for excellence in online learning as well as for its public affairs activities which take full advantage of the university's location in Springfield, the state capitol of Illinois.