Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., professor and former dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, has been appointed chair of the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Board of Trustees.

The appointment places Gooden at the helm of the nine-member board responsible for governing one of the nation’s largest public pension systems. VRS manages a trust fund valued at approximately $123 billion and provides retirement and other benefits to more than 861,000 public employees, retirees and beneficiaries.

As board chair, Gooden also leads the system’s Administration, Finance and Talent Management Committee and Investment Policy Committee. Those responsibilities place her at the center of decisions involving organizational governance, investment strategy and the long-term stewardship of Virginia’s public retirement funds.

Gooden has served on the VRS Board of Trustees since 2020. She was reappointed in 2024 to a five-year term extending through February 2029. Her selection as chair continues a record of public service that has included leadership across higher education, public administration and state government.

The appointment comes as Gooden is making a broader case for the responsibilities carried by researchers and public institutions. In “The Indispensable Role of Research in Strengthening Democracy,” published in the summer 2026 issue of PA Times, she examines what scholars should do when democratic institutions are under strain and political pressure begins to influence the questions they are willing to pursue.

Gooden points to the continued global decline of democracy and asks whether fear, emotional appeals and shifting institutional priorities are narrowing research agendas, particularly around immigration, race and structural inequity. Although universities and research organizations continue to prioritize empirical evidence, she argues that they often underestimate the power of emotion to shape public understanding and political behavior.

“Facts become far less relevant and appreciated against powerful emotional appeal,” Gooden writes, describing a challenge that research institutions have yet to fully confront.

She also cautions researchers against operating solely from a defensive position. Protecting institutions and preserving existing work may be necessary, she argues, but scholars must also “play offense” by continuing to investigate difficult structural questions, communicating their findings in accessible ways and offering concrete recommendations that can improve public life.

“As public affairs researchers, we have an important duty,” Gooden writes. “We need to deliberately consider how our work can strengthen our democracy.”

Gooden’s appointment and her essay reflect the same through line: Public institutions and the people who study them both carry a responsibility to serve the public with evidence, sound judgment and a clear understanding of what is at stake.