Sister Suzanne Dancer, CDP, PhD & University of Texas Educational Psychologist: Home Run Sister.
Congregation of Divine Providence

Who knew that baseball would inspire Sister Suzanne Dancer to dedicate her life to service?

In the seventh grade, young Suzanne felt frustrated when her parents transferred her to a Catholic school in their hometown of El Paso, Texas. But she had a plan. Always a good student, she decided she'd flunk out. At least that was the plan until she realized that her favorite Sister at school was also the coach of the school's baseball team. Sister Suzanne wanted to be on the team but needed good grades to do so.

She continued her education at a Castroville (outside of San Antonio) Catholic high school for girls considering entering the Congregation of Divine Providence. After graduation, inspired by the Sisters who taught her, she entered the order and earned her bachelor's degree in math. She then became a junior high and high school math teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later back in San Antonio.

Having always wanted to earn an advanced degree, she returned to school at the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 to earn a PhD in Educational Psychology, studying statistics and research methods. Sister Suzanne then spent eight years teaching at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and two years as a post-doctoral researcher at Indiana University through a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Today, she teaches at UT-Austin and coordinates program research, sponsored by the University, to make college education more accessible to all students who graduate from Texas high schools.