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Like many ������ý faculty, Susan Olsen didn’t start her career as an instructor. With a background in biology and business, she worked in lab research and pharmaceutical marketing research before launching and eventually selling her own marketing research company. Looking for meaningful work, she joined the faculty at ������ý, where she was recognized as Faculty of the Year in 2017 and received the Dean’s Award in 2025. She has also served as a member of the College of Business & IT Faculty Advisory Board since 2023. In this Q&A, she shares how she connects with students and why those connections make all the difference.

A: Having discovered the University for my daughter in 2012, I thought, “Why not me?” I had just sold my international pharmaceutical marketing research company and was looking for a new and inspiring occupation.

A: I still consult with companies in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry, and I also create websites. I have created three for Land Grant Communities in New Mexico, where I live. My granddaughters are descendants and members of Cañón de Carnué, a Land Grant community just east of Albuquerque.  

A: Incorporating my international pharmaceutical marketing research consulting company after 20 years of working in diagnostic and pharmaceutical corporations, and growing it to the point where it had 12 employees and could be acquired in 2009.

A: I share the way I have navigated my career ups and downs through articles and videos in announcements and in discussion posts. Here are a few of the topics:

• Make the ask: Be a doer, not a dreamer. (Or, “What I learned from knowing Steve Jobs.”)
• Why get an MBA: Susan’s story
• Women in leadership: How far have we come?
• How I turned my gig into a corporation

A: My online classrooms are as personal as I can make them! My students view videos of me introducing myself, for example, and explaining my expectations for each assignment. I also participate in the discussion assignments. I post my own response to each discussion assignment so students can see what is expected and benefit from what I share about my career experiences.

A: “I believe in you and your educational goals.”

I started including this sentence in my messages to students who fall behind at the end of the second week during the five-week class I teach. I have received many replies revealing how much my message encouraged them! They tell me about how life, work, weather events and other issues have affected them. In many cases, I refer them to the Life Resource Center for support. 

A: So many of our students are working adults with families, and they want to achieve their life and career goals by earning their degree. Setting aside time to complete school assignments and keeping a schedule are two keys to success in any of our school programs.  

A: Spend more time with my family watching their sporting events, enjoy my horse, Geisha, or just hang out!

Susan Olsen earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from San Jose State in 1975, and after a few years working in a laboratory at a diagnostics company, she completed her MBA via the evening program at the University of Santa Clara. Olsen pivoted from lab work to pharmaceutical marketing research after earning her MBA. Twenty years later, Olsen quit the pharmaceutical company, jumped into consulting and incorporated her international pharmaceutical marketing research company (WWMR, Inc.), running it for 16 years before selling it in 2009. Olsen still consults for the pharmaceutical industry and creates websites for New Mexico Land Grant Communities.