Former Senior Associate Vice President for Finance Stanford University
Foster City, California
Susan Calandra is a high energy, collaborative leader who is passionate about making quality education affordable and available to all. Beginning her career in public accounting and private sector finance, she subsequently dedicated her talents to higher education, as a senior leader at Stanford and as a trustee of her alma mater, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. Going forward, she intends to help private colleges and universities find new pathways to greater financial viability, inclusivity and diversity.
At Stanford she held progressively responsible financial leadership positions and culminated her career by creating and leading Stanford’s Financial Management Services organization. There she inspired a dedicated team of over 200 professionals to focus on service and stewardship as they worked to improve financial management, business processes and services in support of the entire campus community. Her portfolio included Treasury, Procurement, Controller’s Office, Global Business Services and a Consulting/Support group. Susan has been a strong champion of talent development at Stanford with noteworthy success.
Susan also served as CFO of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at a critical time in its evolution. She continues to serve as a member of the SLAC Board of Overseers, chairing the Business, Technology, Audit and Compliance Committee.
Susan was a Saint Mary’s College trustee for 11 years, serving as Treasurer and chairing the Audit Committee. Saint Mary’s awarded her the Distinguished Alumna Award in 2017.
Susan and her husband, Phil, a retired software executive, live in Foster City, California. Their son recently graduated from The Catholic University of America and the Graduate School of Management at the University of San Francisco. Susan and Phil serve on the Catholic University Parents’ Leadership Council.