Professor Susan Lea is a chartered psychologist and academic, and was Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hull from 2017 to 2022.

In 1995 she received her Doctor of Philosophy from Loughborough University on South African Racial Discourse: A Social Psychological Study.

While at Plymouth University she was Acting Dean of the Health Faculty, Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) of the Health Faculty, and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Professional Placement Learning.

Lea joined the University of Greenwich in April 2015 as Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for academic strategy including all aspects of quality, standards and enhancement.

[5] Her research interests include social justice,[6] sexual and domestic violence,[7][8] the attrition of rape cases within the criminal justice system, rape survivors’ experiences of sexual assault referral centres, and mental health.