Susan Scanlan

Susan Scanlan "has served as president of Women's Research & Education Institute (WREI) since 2000. In November 2005, she took on the chairmanship of the National Council of Women's Organizations. Ms. Scanlan began her career on Capitol Hill in 1972 as legislative director for Rep. Charles H. Wilson (D-CA), for whom she helped craft legislation to admit women to the U. S. military academies. In 1977, she co-founded the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, a bipartisan group of all the women in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It was at this same time that WREI was organized to serve as the Caucus's nonpartisan research arm. In addition to serving as executive director of the Caucus and seeing it grow from 18 to 36 members — in 2005, that number rose to 70 — Ms. Scanlan has also headed WREI's development office and served as director of the Congressional Fellowships on Women & Public Policy. In 1988, Ms. Scanlan accepted a legislative liaison position with ANADAC, a private defense contracting firm in Crystal City, VA, where she also handled training and development. For seven years, from 1991-1998, Ms. Scanlan pursued career opportunities in Asia with her husband, Jared Cameron. These included editing, teaching and writing a monthly magazine column in Taiwan. She returned to the WREI staff in January 1999 and became president of the organization in 2000. Ms. Scanlan is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Sweet Briar College and holds a master's degree in modern languages from Tulane University. She is fluent in Mandarin and an ardent traveler."