Suellen McAvoy Peluso ’77

Suellen McAvoy Peluso ’77 is an advancement professional with over 30 years of experience in higher education, academic medicine and non-profit management. She currently provides counsel to higher education and community-based non-profit clients through Broad Cove Consulting, LLC.

Suellen’s experience spans building infrastructure for philanthropy programs and the design and success of several seminal development campaigns. Suellen served as vice president and associate vice president of development for the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and as vice president of development at the New England Aquarium. She has also held leadership roles for UCLA’s College of Letters and Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine, at Colby-Sawyer College, and most recently, directed institutional giving at the University of New Hampshire. Prior to her advancement work, Suellen was a research assistant at the New York Blood Center and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Suellen volunteers as faculty for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), as a committee member for the Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO), and as a steering committee member for a women’s roundtable for advancement leaders in Boston. Suellen has served on the board of the Star Island Corporation and as liaison to its nominating, development, and outreach and engagement committees; and as planning committee member and chair of the International Affairs conference on Star Island. Additional volunteer commitments and appointments have included Leadership NH, recognizing emerging leaders for state-wide civic engagement; SPARK, New Hampshire’s Early Childhood Advisory Council; Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains; and the St. Paul’s School Parents Fund, among others.

Suellen earned a Bachelor of Arts in microbiology, with a minor in dance, from Purchase College and a Master of Science in public policy from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Suellen lives in Hopkinton, New Hampshire with her husband, Chris. They have one grown daughter.