Susan Dentzer '77

Susan Dentzer '77 served on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees from 1993-2004, and was the first woman to chair the Board, from 2001-2004. She was the first woman nominated by alumni to serve as trustee. She has also served on the Board of Overseers of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth since 1993. She previously served on the Dartmouth Alumni Council. Susan has received the Dartmouth Alumni Award, the Dartmouth Young Alumni Award, the Dartmouth Presidential Medal for Achievement, and the Daniel Webster Award for Public Service from the Dartmouth Club of Washington, DC. She graduated magna cum laude and with highest distinction in her major, English.

Susan is president and CEO of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and think tank that supports innovation to improve health and health care and lower the costs. One of the nation's most respected health and health policy thought leaders and journalists, she is an on-air analyst on health issues for PBS NewsHour and National Public Radio and was formerly editor-in-chief of the journal Health Affairs. Dentzer is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a member of the boards of directors of several nonprofit organizations, including the International Rescue Committee, the American Board of Medical Specialties, and the Public Health Institute. She and her husband, Charles Alston, live in Chevy Chase, MD, and have three children. Their eldest, William Alston, graduated from Dartmouth in June 2016.