Susan K. Avery (born 1950) is an American atmospheric physicist and President Emerita of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, where she led the marine science and engineering research organization from 2008–2015.

While at UCB she also served in various administrative positions, including director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a 550-member collaborative institute between UCB and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (1994-2004); and interim positions (2004-2007) as vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school, and provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Her research included studies of atmospheric circulation and precipitation, climate variability and water resources, and the development of new radar techniques and instruments for remote sensing.

The author or co-author of more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, Avery helped form an integrated science and assessment program that examines the impacts of climate variability on water in the American West.

[3] During her tenure at WHOI, she led the development of an intermediate strategy for the institution to attain fiscal stability based on an external and internal landscape analysis.

Major examples include: Deepwater Horizon oil spill(2010); the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti (2010); the successful search to locate the deep water wreckage of Air France flight 447 in the southern mid-Atlantic (2011); and the measurement of oceanic radionuclides from the disaster at Fukushima (2011).

She encouraged development of new funding resources through a restructured fund-raising office, partnerships with other national and international academic and research organizations, and outreach through events that opened the doors of the institution to the local and regional community.

[4][5][6] Avery's research interests include studies of atmospheric circulation and precipitation, climate variability and water resources, and the development of new radar techniques and instruments for remote sensing.

Change, 5, 4-6 (2015) Research Independence and Integrity, May 25, 2014 Congressional Testimony: Driving Innovations through Federal Investments, April 29, 2014 Congressional Testimony: Deep Sea Challenge: Innovative Partnerships in Ocean Observing, June 11, 2013 Remarks on the Occasion of the Christening of the R/V Neil Armstrong, Anacortes, WA, March 29, 2014 Letter to U.S. House and Senate Leadership: Fiscal Cliff Impacts, December 26, 2012 The Titanic: Seeing is Knowing: Boston Globe Online, April 13, 2012 World Ocean Day Statement: The Importance of Looking Closer to Home, June 8, 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Statement, May 26, 2010 World Climate Summit, Ocean Day: Changing Climate, Changing Ocean, 2009 Congressional Testimony: How the Mission and Related Research of NOAA Contribute to the National Science Program, 2009 Strategic Actions for the next Administration: Preparing the Nation for Climate Change, 2008 Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Feature Editorial “Creative Collaborations to Sustain Momentum,” 2008.