Susan of University of Alabama

Biography:

Susan Carvalho has served as Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at The University of Alabama since 2016. Under her tenure she has overseen growth in master’s and doctoral enrollments, a significant increase in international visibility of the university’s graduate programs, expansions in online graduate offerings, and the modernization of an array of policies and practices related to graduate education. An active CGS member, she serves on the Humanities Coalition Advisory Committee and has been a frequent presenter at CGS conferences.

During her prior years at the University of Kentucky, she served in a variety of administrative positions including Interim Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, associate provost for internationalization, associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, convener of the General Education Reform Steering Committee, interim chair of the Departments of Hispanic Studies and of Political Science, chair of the Domestic Partner Benefits Committee, and she also held a concurrent appointment for six years as Director of the Spanish School at Middlebury College in Vermont. She has directed 38 doctoral dissertations to completion, and as a faculty member she was a recipient of UK’s highest award for graduate education, the William B. Sturgill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education.

Dr. Carvalho earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Hispanic Studies from the University of Virginia. At the University of Alabama, her academic home is in the Department of Modern Languages & Classics, where she holds the rank of full professor. As a scholar of Hispanic cultural studies, she has published one monograph and one edited volume, along with numerous scholarly articles, and has delivered over fifty invited lectures and conference presentations.  Both at the University of Kentucky and the University of Alabama, she has served as PI or co-PI on international IIE, DOS and USAID grants for higher education capacity-building in high-conflict countries.

A past Fellow of the American Council on Education, Dr. Carvalho also held a Fulbright IEA award in Japan, and served for six years as an ACE Senior Associate for Internationalization, advising institutions in the US and Latin America. She is often invited to speak at national and international conferences on topics such as women’s leadership, international education, and accreditation as it relates to international programming. Throughout her various roles, her work has involved a sustained focus on inclusion, academic excellence, collegial teamwork, the excitement of discovery through research, and a record of sound and productive fiscal management.