In Memoriam: Susan Anne Odom, 1980-2021

Susan Odom, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky, died late last month after falling on the stairs at her home in Lexington, Kentucky. She was 40 years old.

A native of Paducah, Kentucky, Dr. Odom received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky and her doctorate from the Georgia Institute of Technology. After postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois, she joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in 2011. She won the “Teacher Who Made a Difference” award four times at the University of Kentucky, most recently in 2017.

Dr. Odom’s recent research focused on new materials for energy storage. She had a joint appointment at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois where she worked on lithium batteries.

Chad Risko, a professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky, said that Dr. Odom “was a fierce proponent for women in STEM and academia, and getting girls exposed to activities and careers in STEM, including organizing a STEM conference for middle school girls.”