Susan Beth Wagshul-Golden, Spotlighted By Influential Women, Leads Campus Safety With Empathy And Strong Collaboration

TACOMA, WA, UNITED STATES, October 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Director of Emergency Preparedness and Campus Safety at the University of Washington Tacoma, She Brings More Than Three Decades of Public Safety Leadership to Higher Education

Tacoma, Washington – Susan Beth Wagshul-Golden is the Director of Emergency Preparedness and Campus Safety at the University of Washington Tacoma, where she brings more than 30 years of public service experience in higher education public safety and emergency management. In her role, she advises senior leadership on safety strategy, leads policy development, and coordinates multi-agency responses to campus and regional emergencies. Her leadership style is collaborative, built on strong partnerships, improved operations, and environments grounded in trust, communication, and resilience. Her expertise spans community crisis response planning, emergency operations, behavioral intervention, and campus safety leadership. She is also known for her advocacy on student food insecurity and her contributions to regional emergency planning alongside public health and emergency management agencies.

Susan’s career began in the City University of New York system, where she served in multiple campus public safety roles. She rose to the rank of Campus Police Lieutenant and held Assistant Director positions at Hunter College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. At Borough of Manhattan Community College, she was on duty during the events of September 11, 2001, an experience that shaped her approach to crisis response and emergency preparedness. At Hunter College, she led complex, multi-campus safety operations serving large and diverse academic communities. Those years in New York gave her a deep understanding of how institutions protect people during moments of uncertainty. She later brought that experience to the Pacific Northwest, where she has continued to strengthen the safety and readiness of the communities she serves.

Susan holds a Master of Science in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University. She has also completed certificates in Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences, The New Rules of Work, and Making Your Next Career Move Your Best Move. She is a member of the National Association for Clery Compliance Officers and volunteers on the Pierce College Advisory Board for Emergency Management Curriculum. For more than 12 years, she has chaired the Pierce County Higher Education Emergency Planning Group, bringing institutions together to plan for shared risks. She also serves with the AMVETS Post 1 Ladies Auxiliary in Tacoma. In 2020, the University of Washington Tacoma honored her with its Distinguished Service Award.

Susan attributes her success to servant leadership, preparation, and resilience. She believes in showing up during the hardest moments, whether that means responding to a crisis, supporting people in need, or helping communities move through uncertainty. She leads with empathy and accountability and values open, meaningful conversations with the people around her. That approach has allowed her to build trust, foster collaboration, and make a positive impact throughout her career. Over the years, she has learned from many mentors, some of whom modeled strong leadership and some of whom showed her what to avoid, and she has drawn lessons from both.

The most important career lesson Susan has taken from her mentors is that she does not have to silence her voice. Her guiding message is to find her voice without losing herself in it. Standing five feet tall, she has learned to stay present in every room and to let others feel her presence. Her mother taught her early on that education is a credential no one can take away, and Susan has found that knowledge and broad awareness help her navigate any group or setting. That belief in learning has remained constant throughout her career, from her early days in New York to her graduate studies and leadership in Tacoma.

Throughout her journey, Susan has balanced leadership with family life—as a mother and wife who raised her children while never losing focus on enjoying life. When she needs to shift her mindset, she turns to a favorite piece of personal wisdom: “If you don’t like the situation, change your participation.

For young women entering public safety and emergency management, Susan encourages staying true to themselves, staying focused, and enjoying the journey. She notes that women in public safety leadership remain rare and that breaking through the glass ceiling is still difficult. She describes what she calls the glass cliff, the constant sense of watching over one’s shoulder for the fall. Rather than fearing that descent, she encourages women to build their own route, whether it is a ski lift or a bridge, together with others, and not to let obstacles stop them. Her advice reflects both the realities she has faced and her conviction that women can create paths forward when they work together.

Susan sees representation as one of the most important issues in her field. For much of her career, women have been underrepresented in public safety leadership, and that reality motivates her to lead authentically. She encourages others to pursue leadership roles and works to create pathways for future women in public service and emergency management. She believes that staying grounded in who you are is essential to navigating the pressures that come with leadership. By mentoring and opening doors, she hopes to help change what leadership in her profession looks like.

The values that guide Susan are collaboration, emotional intelligence, dedication, lifelong learning, and service to others. Working her way through college taught her the value of hard work and perseverance, and her mother instilled in her a lasting appreciation for education and personal growth. These values continue to shape her professional development and her commitment to strengthening the communities she serves. Her leadership philosophy centers on empathy, inclusion, and helping communities meet complex challenges together. Those values are evident in her long service to regional planning groups, curriculum advisory work, and veterans’ organizations.

From her early years in New York to the campus of the University of Washington Tacoma, Susan has spent her career preparing institutions to protect the people within them. Her work in emergency planning, student advocacy, and regional collaboration reflects a deep sense of responsibility to others. Through her leadership and mentorship, she continues to open doors for the next generation of women in public safety. Susan Beth Wagshul-Golden remains a steady presence in times of crisis and a lasting example of service, preparation, and compassionate leadership.

Learn More about Susan Beth Wagshul-Golden:

Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/susan-wagshul-golden

Influential Women

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