Susan L. Turley

Competition Advocate, Strategic Sourcing, Raytheon Missiles and Defense
Mentor of the Year 2020

Susan Turley has expertise in  military, government contracting, and law  currently. Susan works in Supply Chain Strategic Sourcing for Raytheon Missiles and Defense, and she leads a team that manages more than $1.5B in competitive procurements to select the best subcontractors and suppliers and obtain maximum value for RMD.

A fourth-generation Arizona native, Susan graduated from the UA in 1983 with a journalism degree. She worked as a newspaper reporter and editor before joining the Air Force in 1987. 

After an assignment as a missile launch officer, she attended the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, graduating in 1995. Susan served as an Air Force prosecuting and defense counsel, an acquisition attorney and the head of a legal office, and she earned an advanced legal degree in government contracting. After retiring in 2008 as a lieutenant colonel, she worked as a civilian contacting an attorney for the Air Force in Alabama and the Army at Fort Huachuca.  

Susan, who also volunteers as a veterans’ mentor for American Corporate Partners, has three sons, one of whom graduated from the UA College of Pharmacy and another who’s enrolled in the mining engineering program. Her husband was a stay-at-home father for most of her career when doing so was far from the norm. That, coupled with her experience in historically male-dominated fields, has made her eager to help both men and women explore nontraditional career paths and balance family and work.  

Top Goal for Mentoring: 

  • Help mentees grow their professional networks by making connections to others in my field.