Oct. 3, 2007--The following memorial tribute to Marvin B. Sussman was presented by Barbara H. Settles, professor of individual and family studies, at the Semiannual General Faculty Meeting on Oct. 1, 2007:

 Marvin B. Sussman, Unidel Professor of Human Behavior, emeritus, passed away on Aug. 4, 2007 at the age of 88.  He came to the university in 1979 with his appointment in the Department of Individual and Family Studies with a secondary appointment in Urban Affairs, now the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy. 

Active in stimulating the development of the doctoral program in Family Studies and Human Development, he often participated in the Urban Affairs programs and he endowed annual dissertation prizes for both programs.  He was a friend of the University of Delaware library and a board member for the University of Delaware Library Associates, establishing a fund in his name.  A room on the lower level of Morris Library, that is used for computer assisted instruction, was named for him.  He was present and spoke at its dedication in 1999. 

Dr. Sussman was a strong theoretical scholar, but always had a sense of the practical and necessary implications of his work and was often far ahead of his time.  He secured funding from local foundation and government sources to develop a daycare center for fragile elderly, which provided the students and the faculty at the University a model for humane and humanistic services for the elderly and their families.  Dr. Sussman was not only a fascinating teacher, but a continuing mentor and sponsor of students and colleagues.  He was particularly supportive of women, minorities and older returning students at a time when these groups generally were ignored and he encouraged his colleagues to take risks and be creative.  His research and writing was vast and broad in its conception and cross-disciplinary in its nature, encompassing family, family law and policy, community, organizations, sociology of medicine and rehabilitation, intergenerational relationships and aging.  His energies and enthusiasms were directed to a holistic understanding of families and their social context and to providing better services, legal structures and policies to advance human development across the life course. 

Dr. Sussman held many positions of leadership including executive secretary, president and academy member of the invitational Groves Conference on Marriage and Family, Editor of the Journal of Marriage and the Family and founding editor of Marriage and Family Review, and he was active in national and international research and organizations such as the Committee on Family Research of the International Sociological Association.  He received the highest award for scholarship in family studies, the Burgess Award (1980), sponsored by the National Council on Family Relations, the Distinguished Scholar Award, Family division (1985) and the Lee Founders award (1992) both awarded by the Society for the Study of Social Problems.  He was elected to The National Senior Citizen Hall of Fame (1986).

After his retirement in 1988, he continued to support students and colleagues here, attend scholarly meetings, and served on the graduate faculty of Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio, which provided alternative methods for Ph.D. work.  He continued his interests in spiritual issues and his contributions to scholarly and educational ventures including the Groves Conference Sussman Award for scholarly work and the Marvin B. Sussman library at Ma’s Providence Orphan’s Center in Uganda which now serves over 1500 aids orphans. 

A painter and a collector of Indian jewelry, Marvin loved beauty both of the outdoors and shaped by the human hand.  For the past 15 years, he resided in Sebastian, Fla., with a wonderful view of the water where he was associated with the Kashi Ashram.  Only two years ago, he was contacting many of us to help him support a model for assisted living that included his view of a well-rounded life and respect for individuals across the life course.

While he was here in Delaware, he became a sailor and enjoyed belonging to the Columbia Sailing Association.  His own boat was the Phoenix, which he saw as symbolizing the many lives he had enjoyed.  Dr. Sussman received a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1941, master’s degrees from George Williams College (1943) and Yale University (1949) and a doctorate from Yale in 1951.  He held the position of Selah Chamberlain Professor of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University, and a Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forrest University and many associations with volunteer organizations and social service groups. 

Aug. 10, 2007--Marvin B. Sussman, Unidel Professor Emeritus of Human Behavior at the University of Delaware, died Aug. 5, at the age of 88. For the last 12 years, he lived in Sebastian, Fla.

“Marvin Sussman was a true interdisciplinary scholar with an irrepressible intellectual curiosity and a remarkably broad vision of academic possibilities,” UD Provost Dan Rich said. “His research inspired a generation of scholars in family studies and many related fields. At UD, he will be remembered fondly by the many colleagues for whom he was a mentor and advocate. In his lifestyle as in his work, he was fiercely independent but also dedicated to helping others.”

Dr. Sussman was a prolific writer and lecturer in the area of individual and family studies, and was on the leading edge of many fields of study in sociology. He authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited 53 monographs and books, authored 118 chapters in books and monographs, and published 120 articles dealing with the family, community, rehabilitation, organizations, sociology of medicine and aging. He was the founding editor of, Marriage and Family Review.

He traveled to more than 40 countries around the world to develop cross-national research in the field.

Dr. Sussman also was a University benefactor. Before he retired in 1988, he established the Marvin B. Sussman Asklepios Book Fund in the Morris Library. Named after the Greek god of healing, the Asklepios fund provided for the purchase of interdisciplinary books that link the social, behavioral and humanity sciences with the natural and physical sciences, using a holistic approach. In the mid-1990s, he established a Sussman Challenge Gift to raise funds to support library activities.

Dr. Sussman joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1979 after having taught four years at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was professor of sociology and chairperson of the Department of Medical Social Sciences.

Previously, he was the Selah Chamberlain Professor of Sociology from 1955-72 and director of the Institute on Family and Bureaucratic Society from 1969-75 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; visiting assistant professor of sociology from 1954-55 at the University of Chicago; and assistant professor of sociology from 1951-54 at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

Dr. Sussman was a member of the Sociological Research Association, American Sociological Association, International Sociology Association, National Council on Family Relations, National Rehabilitation Association, International Union of Family Organizations, Society for the Study of Social Problems, American Public Health Association, American Statistical Behavioral Science and Medical Education and Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family, and he was an honorary affiliate of the American Association of Marriage and Family Counselors.

Dr. Sussman served terms as president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Ohio Valley Sociological Society and the Ohio Council on Family Relations.

He was a consultant and program development specialist for several federal agencies, and was editor, associate editor and member of the editorial board of such publications as Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Family History, Journal of Marriage and Family Counseling and Marriage and Family Review.

Dr. Sussman received the Ernest W. Burgess Award presented by the National Council on Family Relations in 1980 and the Distinguished Scholar Award in 1985 and the Lee Founders Award in 1992, both presented by the Society for the Study of Social Problems. He was elected to The National Senior Citizen Hall of Fame in 1986.

Dr. Sussman was born Oct. 27, 1918, in New York. He received a bachelor's degree from New York University in 1941, a master's degree from George Williams College in 1943, a master's degree from Yale University in 1949 and a doctorate from Yale in 1951.

Of Dr. Sussman, Bill Cohen, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Haworth Press, said, “Marvin was one of the 'greats' of marriage and family studies who joined with Haworth Press, Inc., when it was in its infancy. One of his more unusual projects with Haworth was a special issue of the journal Marriage and Family Review consisting of articles rejected by other marriage and family journals. He provided his own content re-analysis and commentary, giving voice to authors who were muted for what he thought were 'lamebrain' editorial reasons. When I think of him, I think of simple words: honor, duty, loyalty, kindness.”

Survivors include his brothers, Harvey and Jerry Sussman of Fairfield, Conn.; sons, Kenneth Sussman of Tampa, Fla., and Stuart Sussman of Duluth, Ga.; daughters, Martha Walters of Waynesville. Ohio, and Nancy McCarren of Washington, D.C.; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.