Susan Coots is coming back to the Maxwell School this fall at the front of the classroom. The Syracuse staff member has stepped into a new role as professor of practice of public health, a role in which she’ll teach and mentor students directly.

Coots is a familiar face in the department. For four years, she served as internship coordinator, matching graduate students with hands-on placements at public and private health care providers across the region including Upstate Medical Center, the New York State Department of Health and The Allyn Family Foundation.

“Susan has been an incredible resource for our students, and now we get to bring her expertise directly into the classroom,” said David Larsen, chair of the Public Health Department which transitioned from Falk College of Sport to Maxwell in the summer of 2025. “In addition to her extensive connections with public health organizations, she brings deep expertise from her years working in the field of public health, including as a patient advocate. The real-life professional experiences are invaluable to our students.”

This fall, Coots will teach PHP 221 Community Health Promotion and PHP 309 Health Disparities and Underserved Populations.

Her path to Maxwell started far from a lecture hall. Coots began her career as a temporary employee at the local Planned Parenthood affiliate—an experience that sparked a lifelong commitment to reproductive health care, sexuality education and reproductive justice advocacy. From there, she coordinated patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s school-based health centers in Washington Heights, New York, before returning to Syracuse to lead the Title X-funded Family Planning Services of Syracuse.

Over the course of her career, Coots has taught comprehensive sexuality education to everyone from elementary school students to adult learners, and that includes teaching HFS 388 at Syracuse University to college students. Her work has appeared in The Journal of School Health and The Patient, and she is the author of Sex Education at Home: A Guide for Parents. Today, she consults with local organizations working to expand their capacity to provide family planning services.