Dr. Sue Ann Lafky passed away on December 12th, 2015. She was 62.

Born in Portland, Oregon, she was the daughter of Jim and Lindy Lafky.

She attended Reynolds High School, University of Oregon (BA in Journalism), and Indiana University where she received her MA in Journalism and PhD in Mass Communications. As a journalist she had worked at newspapers including The Oregonian; the Herald-Times in Bloomington, IN; the Sandy Post in Sandy, OR; and the Gresham Outlook in Gresham, OR.

Her teaching career in journalism and mass media included stints at Temple University and the University of Iowa, where she joined the faculty in 1990 and taught until her retirement. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Lafky was a respected scholar with numerous published academic articles in journal and magazine publications, and contributions to books. 

Dr. Lafky's research interests included feminist and critical media pedagogy, gender and the news work force, and gender and popular culture. She taught news writing, political reporting, editing, gender and the mass media, and mass media and society.

She received BS and MA degrees in journalism and a PhD in mass communications. She was a founding editor of the journal Feminist Teacher. She also worked at newspapers including the Herald-Times in Bloomington, IN; the (Portland) Oregonian; the Sandy Post in Sandy, Oregon; and the Gresham Outlook in Gresham, Oregon.

She published chapters in Women and Media: Content, Careers, Criticism; the first and second editions of Women in Mass Communication: Challenging Gender Values; and the second edition of The American Journalist. She contributed entries to two encyclopedias, Women's Periodicals in the United States: Political and Social Issues and the Encyclopedia of Women and Work. She also published articles in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Studies in Popular Culture, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Newspaper Research Journal, and Journal of Communication Inquiry.

Lafky received the Presidential Service Award in 1995 and the Baskette Mosse Award for Faculty Development in 1996 from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). She also was a member of the National Women's Studies Association and the International Communication Association.

She is survived by her father Jim Lafky, and brothers Carl and Ernie Lafky. She was predeceased by her mother Lindy Lafky.