Senior Principal Education Researcher, SRI Education
Susan Patrick is a Senior Principal Education Researcher at SRI Education, where she leads work at the intersection of emerging technologies, education policy, and learning science. As a core member of SRI’s Digital Learning and Technology Policy team, she focuses on modernizing education systems through evidence-based innovation, including the ethical and effective use of artificial intelligence. Patrick brings deep expertise in advancing policy and supporting systemic transformation across the United States.
With more than 25 years of experience, Patrick has collaborated with federal and state policymakers to design and implement education policies across the P–20 continuum. Her work includes identifying technological breakthroughs, conducting national landscape scans, publishing research, and shaping global best practices. She previously served as CEO of the Aurora Institute; President & CEO of the International Association for K–12 Online Learning (iNACOL); Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education; legislative liaison and strategic communications manager for Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull; and legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has provided technical assistance to the White House, U.S. Congress, and more than 40 states, partnering with governors, legislatures, state education agencies, and state boards of education.
Patrick is recognized as a national and global thought leader in digital learning, personalized learning, competency-based education, systems change, and the design of learning ecosystems. She received the AECT Systems Thinking & Change Leader Award in 2020, was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2016, and is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow.
Patrick holds an MA in Communication Management from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, where she studied the social impacts of information and communications technologies. She earned a BA in English from Colorado College and received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 2012.
Key projects
- A National Landscape Scan of Personalized Learning Across the United States
- Expanding Student Access to Work-Based Learning: Federal Policy Recommendations
- Aurora Institute State Policy Priorities and Recommendations to Transform Education
- Five State Policy Recommendations for Governors: Supporting Innovation in Education for the Future Workforce
- Going Beyond the Traditional: Next Generation Credentials and Flexible Learning Pathways
- What Is Competency-Based Education?
- Mean What You Say: Defining and Integrating Personalized, Blended and Competency Education
