Susan W. Mittler

Susan W. Mittler was born in New York City and is a first generation American. She attended grades K-12 public school in Queens, New York. Mrs. Mittler earned a BS degree from Cornell University (Human Development and Family Studies) and a Master’s Degree in elementary education from SUNY Cortland.

She has been an educator in New York State for over thirty -five years. For the first half of her career Mrs. Mittler taught children in the nursery – middle school classroom and elementary school students as part of a district-wide gifted and talented program.

Mrs. Mittler was elected by the Ithaca City School District’s teachers to nine consecutive two-year terms as President of the Ithaca Teachers Association (ITA).

She was appointed to the New York State Professional Standards and Practices Board from 2005-2013 serving as Chairperson of the Sub-Committee for Professional Standards and on the Part 83 hearing committee. Mrs. Mittler focused efforts on the development of authentic, valid assessments of educators and students. This collaborative work included representatives from multiple public and private sectors.

For twenty-seven years Mrs. Mittler actively participated in New York State PTA on the local, district and state levels. Her leadership positions included NYS Vice President; NYS PTA Board of Directors, and chair of committees addressing legislation, diversity and substance abuse. Her efforts led to the successful development of NYS PTA policies and improved parent involvement.      

Currently, Mrs. Mittler is on faculty at Cornell University in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations in the area of collective bargaining. She provides consulting services regarding human resources, contract interpretation and arbitration as President of MittlerAdvises.  She serves on the Board of Advisors for the Ithaca Sciencenter.

She has lived in Ithaca with her husband for 52 years. They have two adult children who are proud graduates of NYS public schools.