Suzanna Gardner
Lead Research Operations Administrator, Outreach & Engagement
Suzanna is the Lead Research Operations Administrator of Outreach and Engagement for the Anvil supercomputer at Purdue University's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing (RCAC). In this role, she designs and executes strategic initiatives to expand awareness, usage, and participation in high-performance computing (HPC) across campus and national cyberinfrastructure communities. As a skilled project and program manager, she coordinates complex, multi-stakeholder efforts from scoping and planning through execution and evaluation, ensuring that RCAC's outreach and engagement programs run smoothly and deliver measurable impact. She holds an M.A. in International Affairs and Leadership and brings a broad, global perspective to her outreach and engagement work at RCAC.
Suzanna serves as the primary organizer and director of RCAC's K–12 summer programs, including:
- Code Explorers: An immersive program teaching Python for data science and environmental storytelling.
- CyberSafe Heroes: Empowering high school students with foundational cybersecurity skills.
- Mission to Mars STEM Summer Day Camp
These programs introduce students to STEM, to Python programming for data science, cybersecurity, and environmental science, and have consistently filled since their launch. Through these and other initiatives, she plays an active role in workforce development, helping cultivate the next generation of cyberinfrastructure professionals and CI-ready talent.
She actively collaborates with national organizations to advance access to cyberinfrastructure and represents RCAC's outreach mission at major conferences, including PEARC, RMACC, SACNAS, MS-CC, and SC. Her work spans building partnerships between R1 and non-R1 institutions, engaging industry partners, and connecting a wide range of academic and professional communities to the resources that national supercomputing offers.
Outside of work, Suzanna is an accomplished athlete who holds a 3rd-degree black belt in judo and made history as the first woman from Uzbekistan to earn a medal at the 1999 Asian Judo Championship. Her athletic career took her across borders and opened doors internationally, an experience that continues to shape her global outlook. Born in Azerbaijan with Georgian roots, and having grown up in Uzbekistan before making her way to the United States, she brings a genuinely international perspective to everything she does, both in the office and beyond. She speaks multiple languages, reflecting the rich cultural background she carries into her work and relationships. She is an avid traveler and food enthusiast who stays grounded through fitness and lifting, a fitting pursuit for a former competitive judoka.