Announcing NCME’s Next Executive Director: Dr. Susan Lyons
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Susan Lyons as the next Executive Director of NCME, effective January 1, 2026. Dr. Lyons will bring to NCME her deep expertise in educational measurement, organizational leadership, and principled assessment practice.
Dr. Lyons is the Principal Consultant at Lyons Assessment Consulting, where she works with states, school systems, foundations, and education organizations to strengthen alignment between assessment, accountability, and learning. She also serves as Co-Founder and Past Executive Director of Women in Measurement, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing gender and racial equity in the measurement profession. Through this work, she has fostered mentorship, professional growth, and inclusion for over a thousand practitioners across the field.
Dr. Lyons holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research from the University of Kansas, where her early work focused on adaptive testing and diagnostic models, and a B.A. in Mathematics and Math Education from Boston University. Throughout her career, Dr. Lyons has authored or co-authored numerous publications on educational measurement, comparability, culturally responsive assessment, and accountability innovation. She is a frequent presenter at NCME, AERA, CCSSO, and other national forums, and a respected voice for ensuring that technical quality and educational justice advance together.
Dr. Lyons represents the best of NCME’s values—intellectual rigor, leadership through service, and an unwavering commitment to fairness and innovation in educational measurement. We are thrilled to welcome her to this role and look forward to the vision and energy she will bring to NCME’s next chapter.
Dr. Lyons will succeed Dr. Rich Patz, who has provided three years of dedicated service to NCME in this role, in addition to his years on the Board and as President. Over the coming months, Susan will collaborate with Rich, Stacey Givens and the NCME management team, along with NCME leadership to ensure a seamless transition.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Susan Lyons on her appointment as NCME’s next Executive Director.