Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN, is a contemplative clinical scientist, mindfulness teacher, author, non-profit and health care leader, and registered nurse. Susan served as President of the Mind & Life Institute from December 2015 to December 2023. She was an NIH-funded researcher and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar who received one of the first NIH R01 grants to study meditation in 2005. An early teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), Susan completed MBSR teacher clinical practicum training in 1999. She has held leadership positions and/or taught at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory University, and the University of Virginia (UVA). Prior to joining Mind & Life, Susan was the Kluge Professor in Contemplative End-of-Life Care and director of the Compassionate Care Initiative at UVA, with dual faculty appointments in Nursing and Religious Studies. She was also a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow and served as president of the Society for Integrative Oncology. Susan completed a PhD in psychoneuroimmunology at Rush University in Chicago and post-doctoral training in psycho-oncology and behavioral medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. In 2021, Mindful recognized her as one of “the most powerful women in the mindfulness movement.” She is the author of two books: A Future We Can Love: How to Reverse the Climate Crisis through the Power of Our Hearts and Minds (Shambhala, 2023) and Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion, and Connectedness (Shambhala, 2025). Susan is a Mind & Life Fellow and currently serves and consults with values-aligned organizations and guides individuals and groups in purpose-full living and dying (coming-to-life.com).
