Susan R. Meisinger

Susan R. Meisinger (pronounced “messenger”), SPHR, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. 

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest professional association devoted to human resource management.  Our mission is to serve the needs of HR professionals by providing the most current and comprehensive resources, and to advance the profession by promoting HR’s essential, strategic role.  Founded in 1948, SHRM represents more than 225,000 individual members in over 125 countries, and has a network of more than 575 affiliated chapters in the United States, as well as offices in China and India with a staff of over 300.   Under Meisinger’s leadership, SHRM was recognized by Washingtonian  magazine as one of the top 50 “Great Places to Work” in the Washington, DC area in 2003

Meisinger, who has served as President and CEO since March of 2002, previously held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SHRM from 1999 to 2002. She also served as Senior Vice President from 1997-1999 and as Vice President of Government and Public Affairs from 1987-1997.

Prior to joining the Society, Meisinger served as Deputy Under Secretary for the Employment Standards Administration (ESA) in the U.S. Department of Labor. As head of the largest agency within the Department, she was responsible for more than 4,000 employees, a budget of more than $3 billion, and the administration of more than 90 Federal laws and regulations. Meisinger also served as special legal counsel for the Associated Builders and Contractors in Washington, D.C.

She also is a member of the board of directors for SHRM and the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), an affiliate of SHRM.  She is a former board member of the Ethics Resource Center, a nonprofit devoted to fostering ethical practices in individuals and organizations, where she served board from 2001 - 2007.  She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum. Meisinger sits on the corporate board for BE&K, a billion dollar international design-build firm and is a member of the editorial board of the Human Resource Management Journal. In addition, she is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR), an organization that recognizes individuals and institutions in HR for outstanding professional achievement and contributions to their field. Acting on behalf of SHRM, Meisinger takes an active role to help shape public policy. She was one of thirteen members appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to serve on the Secretary’s Committee on the Future of the Workplace under the President’s Council on the 21st Century Workforce. She has provided testimony and commentary to public policy makers, and is a respected advocate on behalf of the HR profession. 

Meisinger frequently serves as an expert on workplace and business issues in the national media and has appeared on CNN, CNNfn and NBC Nightly News as well as other well known broadcast news programs. She has also appeared in stories in the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, among other leading national publications.

In addition, Meisinger—with former SHRM President and CEO Mike Losey and University of Michigan business school professor David Ulrich—co-authored and edited “The Future of Human Resource Management,” which was published in June by John Wiley & Sons.  In the book, 64 thought leaders explore the critical HR issues of today and tomorrow.

Meisinger received a bachelor's degree from Mary Washington College and a law degree from the National Law Center of George Washington University. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and has earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from HRCI.