CASE

CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham

Sue Cunningham

SUE CUNNINGHAM
President and CEO of CASE
@CunninghamCASE

Credit: Sean Sime

Sue Cunningham is President and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which supports over 3,000 schools, colleges and universities worldwide in developing their integrated advancement work (alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing). As CASE President and CEO, Ms. Cunningham provides strategic and operational leadership for one of the largest associations of education-related institutions in the world with members in over 80 countries. She started her leadership role at CASE in March 2015.

While at CASE, Ms. Cunningham has engaged CASE in two strategic planning processes. The first, which involved thousands of CASE volunteers, resulted in Reimagining CASE: 2017-2021, and included a comprehensive restructure of CASE’s volunteer leadership and governance structure. She led a recalibration exercise resulting in Championing Advancement: CASE 2022-2027 articulates a clear charge: that CASE will define the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, and lead and champion their dissemination and application across the world’s educational institutions. 

Under her leadership, CASE acquired the Voluntary Support of Education survey and created CASE Insights, CASE’s global research, data and benchmarking portfolio. CASE published the first global and digital edition of CASE’s Global Reporting Standards and Guidelines, which operate as the industry-leading Standards for the profession, and launched global Alumni Engagement and Brand and Reputation surveys in addition to annual fundraising surveys. CASE created an ambitious competencies model across all advancement disciplines and a related career journey framework and has reinvigorated a global advocacy agenda to communicate the value of education.  

Ms. Cunningham serves as a Trustee for the University of San Diego and is Chair of the Student Affairs Committee.  She is a member of the Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) Board of Directors. She is a member of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat Steering Committee, the International Association of University Presidents Executive Committee, and the International Women’s Forum. She is the author of ‘Global Exchange: Dialogues to Advance Education’.

Prior to CASE, Ms. Cunningham served as Vice-Principal for Advancement at the University of Melbourne where she led the Believe campaign resulting in surpassing its original $500 million goal; and the Director of Development for the University of Oxford where she led the development team through the first phase of the largest fundraising campaign outside of the United States (at the time): Oxford Thinking, with a goal of £1.25 billion. She served as Director of Development at Christ Church, Oxford and as Director of External Relations at St. Andrews University. 

Before working in education, Ms. Cunningham enjoyed a career in theatre, the arts and the cultural sector. She is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2012, Ms. Cunningham received the CASE Europe Distinguished Service Award and is a CASE Crystal Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient. Ms. Cunningham was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, a bachelor’s degree in performing arts from Middlesex University, and is a graduate of the Columbia University Senior Executive Program. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University in 2025.

Sue Cunningham
President and CEO
[email protected]

Follow Sue on LinkedIn. 

Read the President's Perspective column in CASE's Currents magazine:

"President's Perspective: Finding a Common Purpose in our Discourse" - April/May 2026

"President's Perspective: Reputation Belongs to Us All" - January/February 2026

"President's Perspective: Deeply Engaged, Powerful Voices" - September/October 2025

Cover image for Global Exchange

Global Exchange: Dialogues to Advance Education

Sue Cunningham brings a global perspective to everything she does, and the benefit of this lens is clear in Global Exchange, in which advancement leaders from around the world address the critical issues facing the sector. With voices from schools, colleges, universities, and foundations, Global Exchange represents a collection of today’s ‘best thinking’ in educational advancement—guided, gathered, and annotated by someone who has led advancement offices on three continents.

Digital Publication

Sue Cunningham, Biography Information

Sue Cunningham is president and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which supports over 3,000 schools, colleges and universities worldwide in their advancement work (alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing). Ms. Cunningham leads one of the largest associations of education-related institutions in the world with members in over 80 countries. She began her role in 2015.

Under her leadership, CASE acquired the Voluntary Support of Education survey and created CASE Insights; published the first global and digital edition of CASE’s Global Reporting Standards and Guidelines; and launched global Alumni Engagement and Brand and Reputation surveys in addition to annual fundraising surveys. CASE created a competencies model and a related career journey framework for the profession, and has reinvigorated a global advocacy agenda.

Ms. Cunningham serves as a Trustee for the University of San Diego, and Chairs its Student Affairs Committee. She is a member of the Signature Theatre Board of Directors. She is a member of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat Steering Committee, the International Association of University Presidents Executive Committee, and the International Women’s Forum. She wrote  ‘Global Exchange: Dialogues to Advance Education’.

Prior to CASE, she held senior advancement roles at the University of Melbourne, the University of Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford; and St. Andrews University.  She is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and a bachelor’s from Middlesex University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University in 2025.