2025 Consulting Webinar Bundle

Susan Elrod is an experienced biology professor, university administrator, and national leader in STEM education. Throughout her career, she has used an entrepreneurial mindset and a shared leadership approach to achieve goals that result in meaningful progress and lasting change. Her experience as a leader spans three university systems in the United States—the California State University (CSU) system, the University of Wisconsin (UW) system, and Indiana University (IU) – and roles including dean, provost and chancellor. She also served as the executive director of Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC working with campuses across the country on access and student success in STEM. Her scholarship has resulted in over 30 publications on topics ranging from undergraduate research to systemic change and leadership, as well as several scientific publications and patents. She is co-author of the Change Leadership Toolkit (2023) and Shared Leadership in Higher Education (2022). She and her colleagues have been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and others.

Elrod holds a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of California, Davis and an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from California State University, Chico where she also served as President of the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and was inducted into the Omicron Theta Epsilon Biological Sciences Honor Society. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Novozymes, Inc. in Davis, California, was an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow at Colorado College in 2006-7, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Mary Spina Wheeler is a project consultant for NACUBO and updates NACUBO’s Financial Accounting and Reporting Manual (FARM). She is also the owner of MS Wheeler Financial Services, LLC, providing financial and operational services to higher education and other nonprofit organizations. Wheeler writes and presents on all matters related to nonprofit and higher education accounting and financial reporting. She is the author of NACUBO’s Endowment Fund Valuation Guide and the 2012 recipient of NACUBO’s Daniel D. Robinson Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of college and university accounting and reporting. Wheeler’s career includes management positions at Cornell University, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and the Arizona State University Foundation. 

Ruth A. Johnston is the acting vice president of consulting for NACUBO and the founder and owner of RAJ Consulting, LLC. She most recently served as the system vice chancellor and chief operating officer at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Over her nearly four-year tenure, Johnston oversaw vital areas, including finance and business services, facilities and services, enterprise risk management and safety, human resource services, information and communication technologies, government and community relations, and marketing and communications. Prior to this, Johnston held the role of vice chancellor for planning and administration at the University of Washington (UW) Bothell. Notably, she led the development of a pioneering hybrid budget model based on responsibility-centered management principles. In 2008, she established UW's sustainability office and masterminded the development of UW's Climate Action Plan. Johnston's educational journey is marked by a doctorate in organizational development and higher education, a master's degree in human relations, and a bachelor's in counseling psychology/social sciences.