The following biographic sketch was written by Susie Bullington, one of Sue's PhD students at the University of Minnesota. Carol Holtzman Cespedes provided us with it, suggesting it be posted on our class website.

Scholar and activist Susan Geiger passed away on April
14th after a 16 month long battle with leukemia.
Professor Geiger taught at the University of
Minnesota from 1976 to 1999 in the Department of
Women’s Studies, the Center for Advanced Feminist
Studies, the Department of Afro-American and African
Studies, the History Department, and the MacArthur
Program. She played a central role in building each
of these programs, as well as many communities of
feminist and international studies scholars. She had
a profound influence on both her students and peers.

Susan Geiger led a diverse and interesting life. She
led groups of students in study-abroad programs in
East Africa and participated in exchange programs with
the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she
received her Ph.D. in History in 1973. She also had
an ongoing relationship with the Tanzanian Gender
Networking Programme (TGNP). Susan was a visiting
scholar in women’s studies at the University of New
Mexico, the University of Arizona, and Flinders
University.

Her research interests included: 1) Political and
social history of African women, with primary focus on
development and expression of political consciousness
among Tanzanian women, using oral and life history
documentation; 2) Analytical importance of gender in
all aspects of historical analysis, including studies
of "the state," nationalism, economic policy, etc.; 3)
Methodological and theoretical issues around the
collection and use of life histories as data in
historical research; 4) International feminist theory;
race/gender in international perspective.

Professor Geiger published widely throughout her
career. Her book, TANU Women: Gender and Culture in
the Making of Tanganyikan Nationalism, 1955-1965, is a
major contribution to modern African historical
studies. Published in 1997, it has been called "path
breaking" and "unique." As a new interpretation of
nationalist history in Tanganyika/Tanzania, her work
forces a reevaluation of women’s roles in the
construction, creation, and meaning of nationalism.
But beyond that, the words of African women,
especially Bibi Titi Mohammed, stand at the center of
the book, reflecting Susan’s abiding commitment to
placing gender and women at the center of her
historical work, not just theoretically, but in the
very practice of it.

In addition to this major work, Professor Geiger
published numerous articles about women and African
nationalism, life history method, and women and
economic development in Tanzania. She was also
Associate Editor for SIGNS: Journal of Women in
Culture and Society.

Susan was a committed teacher and generous mentor, a
lifelong activist, a rigorous scholar and meticulous
critic, and a tireless institution builder. Although
her influence will continue to be felt for generations
to come, her presence is already sorely missed.