08/02/2023
Sue Othmer
Feb. 1, 1944 to Feb. 3, 2023
Susan FitzGerald Othmer, resident of Los Angeles for some 52 years, died at West Valley Post Acute skilled nursing facility on February 3, after three years of declining mental health.
Sue was a lover of nature who became a neuroscientist in the observational, naturalistic tradition of Oliver Sacks. The youngest of four, Sue was the mother of three children, a teacher and organizer, an extraordinary therapist and clinician, and a pioneer in neuroscience. Her life is best understood through the impact she has had on those around her. Unflappable, calm in the face of hardship, Sue navigated life with an even keel, a happy disposition, an incredible degree of self-sufficiency—always predisposed toward the positive, even in the face of severe adversity.
Sue was born February 1, 1944, in Boston, but grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and in Bethesda, MD, where her father, Joseph Harold FitzGerald, served on the US Civil Aeronautics Board. Sue graduated in 1962 from Parkway High School in St. Louis, where her father was then President of Ozark Airlines. Sue took up the study of physics at Cornell. She was the only female in a large class, graduating in 1966 magna cm laude and with selection to Phi Beta Kappa. In this pursuit, she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Ruth Milliken FitzGerald, who had studied physics at Oxford, where she met her future husband. He was studying law as a Rhodes Scholar from the University of Montana.
In 1964, Sue married Siegfried Othmer, who was pursuing his Ph.D. in physics at Cornell. They had met in 1962 at a Ravi Shankar concert. For Siegfried, it had been love at first acquaintance. After graduating in 1966, Sue began graduate work in neurobiology at Cornell under Frank Rosenblatt, inventor of the Perceptron, the first modern neural network. Sue was investigating attentional mechanisms in the cat using the then-novel technique of EEG evoked potentials.
In 1968, their first son Brian was born. With a family move to Sherman Oaks in 1970 so that Siegfried could pursue a career in aerospace research at the Northrop Research and Technology Center, Sue continued her research at the UCLA Brain Research Institute under its Director, Ross Adey. The tragic death of her major adviser in a sailing accident in 1971 aborted her trajectory to a Cornell Ph.D. As UCLA had no provision for the transfer of graduate student credits, the journey to a Ph.D., already nearly complete, had to be abandoned.
In 1971, Sue founded the Topanga Canyon Docents, which she then led for nearly two decades. The primary purpose was to offer experience of the natural environment to our school-age children. At age 2, Brian started showing marked behavioral difficulties that presented ever more of a parenting challenge going forward. Karen was born in December 1973. By the age of seven months, Karen was exhibiting neurological deficits. A brain tumor was diagnosed, and after a series of unsuccessful medical procedures Karen succumbed at the age of 14 months. Kurt was born in November 1975.
Brian’s behavioral difficulties evolved into a seizure disorder that was managed medically, but major behavioral problems remained, and family life was severely challenging. In 1985, Sue had the opportunity to evaluate an experimental procedure called EEG biofeedback—now known as neurofeedback—that had been discovered somewhat fortuitously at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital by UCLA psychologist M. Barry Sterman. The method worked wonders on Brian’s remaining problems, resulting in his being able to go on to college a couple of years later.
It had become clear that Brian’s behavioral problems had to be understood in a physiological rather than a psychological frame. And it was equally clear that these behaviors could yield to a targeted training model—neurofeedback. Sue and Siegfried decided to pursue the further development of this novel therapeutic method, and in this manner, Sue was able to return to her field of professional interest, neuroscience, while also meeting Brian’s needs.
Brian’s seizure disorder could not be brought fully under control with the medications, and he remained at great risk from spices in the diet. He succumbed to a nocturnal seizure in March of 1991, just months before his graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Brian had had six good years with the neurofeedback. He was at the top of his class in computer science, and was selected for the math honorary, even though he had not been a math major.
In the late nineties, Sue made the pivotal discovery that with her method, the training had to be highly individualized for best results. This finding then drove subsequent protocol development, extending the field into entirely new terrain. Protocol developments were presented both in training course manuals and in Sue’s Protocol Guide, which is now in its seventh edition. Sue also played a key role in the annual conferences that brought the practitioner network together both in person or on-line. Sue’s findings are likely to have a major impact on the field of mental health.
Sue Othmer lived her life with dignity and purpose, and in a spirit of acceptance of what life dished out to her. Her mission in life was fulfilled in abundance. Sue is survived by her husband Siegfried Othmer, their son Kurt Richard Othmer, their grandson Colton Dean, and by an elder brother, Joseph Knowles FitzGerald of Moraga, CA. Two older sisters are deceased: Jean FitzGerald Jackson Seglie of Washington, DC, and Helen FitzGerald Cserr of North Dighton, MA, professor of physiology at Brown University. Remembrances may be sent to Siegfried@eeginfo.com. Memorial donations may be made to the Brian Othmer Foundation in the furtherance of Sue’s mission. A memorial service is being planned for March 18.
