Susan Carney

Susan Carney is senior director of communications and marketing for the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), which Mcity joined in 2024.  She oversees strategy, planning and execution of media relations, digital and social media, and thought leadership initiatives for both UMTRI and Mcity.

Carney arrived at U-M in 2015 from Burson-Marsteller, an integrated communications agency, where she was part of the team supporting Ford Motor Co. communications. As editor-in-chief of Ford’s internal newsroom, Carney managed a team responsible for creating written and visual materials about Ford for distribution across the media landscape: print, broadcast, digital, and social.

Carney is a former journalist, and served more than a decade as a reporter and editor for The Detroit News, including directing the News’ award-winning auto industry coverage. Her last role at the paper was business editor before joining Burson-Marsteller in 2011.

A Detroit native, Carney earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York.