Who knew a national reporter could be so nice?

I first met Susan Tifft in a shuttle from the RDU airport, well before I joined the faculty here.  It was clear she was a precise thinker, but also chatty and friendly.  Twenty minutes later we were longlost friends and intellectual compatriots.  Who knew a national reporter from the New York Times could be so nice?  

What became clear in the battle for her life was her latent strength, how adversity did not crush her spirit but made her courage, kindness and generosity even more apparent.  I know her students were her great joy, and teaching and mentoring gave her an outlet to express her values that never could have been satisfied by being a journalist alone.  Oh so sad this this candle went out, but dozens, no hundreds, of current and former students still carry that flame.

Robert Cook-Deegan

Director, Center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy