Susan Karol Rieff

Susan Karol Rieff passed away at the age of 67 on July 6, 2023 at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Ark. Susan was born in Fayetteville, Ark., on December 19, 1955 to Jimmie and Katie Rieff. She graduated with honors from Rogers High School in 1974, and continued her education by earning a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Texas Christian University, a masters degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, and completed her doctoral work in natural resources at Duke University in N.C. For more than 35 years, Susan developed and directed environmental conservation and sustainability initiatives, both nationally and in Texas, beginning with serving as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers, helping secure protection of wilderness areas in Arkansas and fair-market value for resources on U.S. public lands. In Texas, Susan was selected as the first Director of Resource Protection for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, then Assistant Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, followed by her position as Policy Council Director and Director of Environmental Policy for Texas Governor Ann Richards. In 1996, Susan was appointed to the U.S. Department of the Interior as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary. There, she managed federal interagency policy initiatives as well as agency projects including the initial implementation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established in 1997. Susan spent the next several years working for the National Wildlife Federation in various capacities, finally as Policy Director for Land Stewardship. In 2004, she became the Executive Director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, where she led its transition to becoming a research unit of the University of Texas and a recognized leader in landscape sustainability and land conservation. After 11 years at the Wildflower Center, Susan served as Senior Research Fellow in the University of Texas' Center for Sustainable Design in the School of Architecture, retiring in 2016. During her extensive career, Susan served on the boards of several conservation-based organizations working in Texas and across the U.S. and taught environmental policy courses at the LBJ School in Austin. Susan is survived by her parents of Rogers, Ark.; sister, Melissa Ayers (Guy Patteson) of Jonesboro, Ark.; brothers, Kevin Rieff (Michelle) of Glencoe, Okla., and Grady Rieff (Suzanne) of Bentonville, Ark.; nieces, Wacey Henderson (Pat) of Welch, Okla., Haley Annuschat (Darin) of Stillwater, Okla., Amanda Ayers of Little Rock, Ark., and nephew, Kye Rieff (Kasey) of Carthage, Mo.; as well as several great-nieces and great-nephews and extended family and a host of friends and former colleagues. She was predeceased by grandparents, Dolph and Lena Helm of Prairie Grove, Ark., and Louis and Nellie Rieff Buchanan of Fayetteville, Ark.

A celebration of Susan's extraordinary life will be held at 5 p.m. on August 5, at her parents' home in Rogers. Burial will be private. The family prefers memorials be made to the Susan Rieff Memorial Scholarship for Environmental Sciences Program at TCU. Gifts may be mailed to: Arkansas Community Foundation, 5 Allied Drive, Suite 51110, Little Rock, Ark., 72202, or made online at: www.arcf.org/rieff.