Susan Tinsley Gooden is a professor of public administration and public policy in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and executive director of the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has published widely in the areas of social equity and social policy. A native of Martinsville, Virginia, she received an AS in natural science from Patrick Henry Community College, a BA in English from Virginia Tech, and an MA in political science from Virginia Tech. She received her PhD from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.