Dr. Susan Suarez
Dr. Susan Stevens Suarez, of Ithaca, NY, passed away peacefully Wednesday morning, June 11, 2026, at 77 after a prolonged illness. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and scientist who will be sorely missed.
Susan was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1949 to Jim and Barbara Stevens, 3 years before the birth of her brother James Stevens. Susan's interest in biology took her to Cornell University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree, then to the University of Miami for a Master of Science degree, studying fish systematics. Fleeing the male-oriented atmosphere of fish biology, she moved to the University of Virginia to pursue a doctorate in reproductive biology, studying sperm. She continued her study of the sperm's journey through the oviduct at the University of California at Davis as a postdoctoral scholar. There she met her husband, Wayne Gottlieb, and gave birth to the first of their two children, Charlotte Rose.
Susan continued her work as a professor at the University of Florida from 1987-1994, where their son, Jesse, was born. In 1994, she began work at Cornell University, making Ithaca her home. She is best known for her pioneering research on the sperm "reservoir" at the base of the oviduct, which slowly releases sperm, only allowing a few at a time to approach the egg, and on the hydrodynamics of how sperm swim through the cervix and oviduct. Susan is also believed to be the originator of the joke, "Why do males produce so many sperm? Because men are afraid to ask for directions."
Susan collaborated with biologists, biochemists, physicists, mechanical engineers, statisticians, and other specialists worldwide to optimize her (and their) research. She was well known as a generous, collaborative scientist who was always ready to share her knowledge, ideas, findings, and resources to further knowledge in her field. Along the way, she mentored over 60 undergraduate, veterinary, graduate, and postdoctoral students, served on grant review committees for NIH, NSF, and USDA for 20 years, gave invited seminars at over 90 scientific meetings and universities (including 13 different countries), and served as the president of the Society for the Study of Reproduction.
Susan garnered uninterrupted research funding from grants for 31 years, and her 119 scientific papers are published in top journals in reproductive biology as well as in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Cell. Many younger scientists remember being inspired to go into the field of reproductive biology by Susan's research, her comprehensive and accessible review articles, and her lectures and seminars. Some students and postdocs were surprised that a scientist of Susan's caliber and renown would spend so much time interacting with them, providing scientific and career advice and encouragement; her happiness in helping them was palpable, as was her enthusiasm about science, and her knowledge and kindness. One young scientist was inspired to name his newly-discovered fish species Ogilbia suarezae in honor of Susan and her important Master's-degree work on reproduction in a related fish species.
In retirement, Susan continued her work as a scientist, writing and reviewing scientific papers, serving on NIH grant review boards, lecturing in the Frontiers in Reproduction course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, and collaborating with other reproductive biologists. She also had many volunteer interests. She worked with the Dryden Democrats and kept up the wildflower bloom board at the Cornell Botanical Garden along with her volunteer partner, Lois Levitan. She taught a biology course for inmates at the Cayuga Correctional facility and worked with the Big Sisters Big Brothers program in Ithaca. She adored her grandchildren and delighted in helping to raise them.
Susan leaves behind her husband Wayne Gottlieb, her daughter Rose Gottlieb and son-in-law Colin Brumsted, her son Jesse Gottlieb and daughter-in-law Sarah Plotkin, her grandchildren Jade Gottlieb (1) and Ansel Gottlieb (3), and her brother Jim Stevens and sister-in-law Irina Girshin.
In Susan's memory, contributions can be made to Cornell Botanic Gardens, Hospicare, The Nature Conservancy, or the Food Bank of the Southern Tier. There will be a celebration of life at a later date.