An Announcement from CGS President Suzanne Ortega to the Membership
Dear CGS Colleagues,
After over a decade of serving the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) as your president, I write to let you know that I plan to step down from the position on June 30, 2025. The press release announcing that decision is available on the CGS website, and details about the search process are included. I selected June 30 because it allows the board an appropriate length of time to conduct a search and appoint my successor and because in my transition to the presidency, July 1 was a perfect moment to step in and lead the New Deans Institute and Summer Workshop.
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your president. As you know, the CGS staff are talented, creative, and absolutely committed to serving you and advancing access to, and success in, high quality graduate education. Both you and the next president will be well-served by their dedication to the mission of the council. But I especially want to thank you, our members, for the work you do every day to support current and prospective graduate students. Our communities, nation, and the world have never needed their energy, intelligence, skills, and scholarship more. It is your engagement that makes the work of CGS possible.
As for my personal plans, in July 2025 I will begin a six-month sabbatical. I will be available to assist the next president in any way that he or she would find helpful. I hope to complete several still outstanding writing projects. There is still so much work to do that I have a hard time envisioning life beyond this coming year. However, I do know that I want to spend time helping to support Philadelphia inner-city schools. As many of you know, I was a most improbable graduate student. A teenage mom and high school dropout, I nevertheless found my way to and through a doctoral program at Vanderbilt and into a career that changed the life of my family and me. That was only possible because the public schools I attended in my early years had the resources to nurture curiosity and a commitment to doing so. We simply cannot afford to lose the talents of those too frequently left behind by our educational system. (By the way, I very much welcome your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions about the best way for me to help.)
In the meantime, please know that I will work with as much energy and commitment to serve CGS throughout the remainder of my tenure as I have for the last 10+ years. Because of the collective work we do, my successor will come into a thriving organization and community.
With gratitude,
Suzanne T. Ortega
President