Suzanne O’Brien ’59

On a gray day in February 2024, our friend, former supervisor, and mentor Dean Suzanne O’Brien ’59 passed away. She was a remarkable woman—brilliant, determined, kind, occasionally stern, and above all fair and truthful. She loved opera, the New Yorker, spicy Thai food, a good cocktail or glass of wine, travel, and all things French. She loved U of R and believed in its mission of meliora. She was devoted to the College Center for Advising Services and was staunchly proud of the University’s undergraduate students.

You may not have met Dean O’Brien—but if you were an undergraduate on the River Campus between the years of 1961 and 2016, chances are she shaped the course of your studies. If you visited the College Center for Advising Services (CCAS), participated in the Take Five Program, declared a cluster, submitted a petition or appeal, or benefitted from the flexible Rochester Curriculum, Dean O’Brien impacted your education.

When Suzanne Jagel arrived at the University in 1955, bright-eyed and nervous, she was already a pioneer: she and her female classmates were the first group of women to live on the River Campus. Suzanne may have guessed at some of the adventures that lay ahead of her: a year studying abroad in Paris, falling in love with her fellow student and later husband John O’Brien, being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. But she had no inkling that in one sense, she would never leave—that she would build a 55-year career as a visionary leader whose work would not only impact generations of U of R students but would go on to shape academic policies and practices for decades.

Her greatest contribution to the University was the creation of CCAS, which she directed for nearly 40 years. It’s hard to remember, but CCAS once was a radical idea: an office where staff members worked side by side with faculty to nurture student success. Suzanne guided generations of advisors to act with integrity, to think critically, to practice equity, and to demonstrate compassion. She held high expectations for her staff, for our ability to master a complex intersection of knowledge and skills, and in her insistence that we approach each student individually.

Working for Suzanne offered its own kind of education to CCAS advisors. We learned to write—clearly and unambiguously—and no one (deans, colleagues, faculty, and perhaps even a few University presidents) could escape her red pen. Few people appreciated the English language more than Suzanne. She loved to think through a grammatical conundrum and took special delight in malapropisms (she kept a file of some of her favorites). We fondly remember her debating word choice with equal parts ferocity and glee.

Suzanne received many awards during her time at the University, including the Goergen Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Learning in 2003; the Susan B. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007; the Witmer Award for Distinguished Service in 2014; and the College Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Learning in 2016. Shortly before retiring, she gave one last, important gift to the University, establishing the Suzanne Jagel O’Brien Director of the College Center for Advising Services. Through this final gift, Suzanne has ensured that undergraduates will always have a place that is dedicated to their support and advocacy.

—Marcy Kraus and Juliet Sullivan