Susanne Siepl-Coates received her Diplom Ingenier (Dipl. Ing.) degree in architecture at the University of Hannover, Germany in 1979 and her Master of Architecture (M. Arch) degree as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. At Berkeley she studied with the internationally renowned architect and educator Christopher Alexander and worked at his Center for Environmental Structure.
Since 1984, Susanne Siepl-Coates has been on the architecture faculty at Kansas State University. Her teaching focuses on the exploration of the relationships between the built environment and human health/well being. In collaboration with Gary J. Coates, Siepl-Coates examined the health-supporting aspects in the architecture of Swedish architect Erik Asmussen. Her research in this area has been presented at international conferences as well as architectural firms practicing in the health care field. Reporting on this research, she is the author of papers and articles that have been published in professional and scholarly journals in this country and abroad.