Suzanne Loker, professor emerita at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, passed away on April 12 after a long battle with cancer. She was 77 years old.
At Cornell, Dr. Loker taught as a professor of fiber science and apparel design in the College of Human Ecology for 10 years. During her tenure, she was a key faculty member in creating the college’s Ph.D. program in apparel design. In both her research and teaching, she used cutting-edge technology, such as body-scans, to study apparel sustainability, garment fit, and computer-aided design.
A dedicated advocate for social and corporate responsibility, Dr. Loker developed a course on social responsibility and ethics in fashion and authored Social Responsibility in the Global Apparel Industry (Fairchild Books, 2009). Additionally, she was an early supporter of distance education and online learning. In the early 2000s, she converted her classes into an online format. Later, she and a team of colleagues received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to develop online graduate courses at two other universities.
Outside of her academic work, Dr. Loker was committed to community outreach and engagement. Through Cornell Cooperative Extension, she led the Apparel Industry Outreach program, which supported the implementation of new technologies into New York state’s apparel industry. She also helped to develop digital design entrepreneurship resources for businesses and as a class for students to interact with industry professionals.
Dr. Loker received her master’s degree in clothing and textiles from Syracuse University in New York and her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Kansas State University.