Hans-Dieter Sues

Hans-Dieter Sues passed away suddenly at home on Sunday, February 22nd. He was 70 years old.

Hans, a resident of Vienna for over 20 years, was married to Liz Sues for 35 extremely happy years and was the very proud and loving father of Sarah Sues and father-in-law of Josh Sues. Hans and Sarah enjoyed going to coin, gem and antique shows together. They often watched horror movies together after Liz fled the room. He was very attached to his cats, Django, Nebula and Yuki.

At the time of his death, Hans was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Hans was born on January 13, 1956 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. After deciding at the age of four that he wanted to spend his life studying dinosaurs, he received his undergraduate degree from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz. He moved on to Canada and earned an M.S. at the University of Alberta on a Rotary scholarship. After that he received an A.M. and a Ph.D. (1984) in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University, where the professor he learned the most from was Ernest Williams. While at Harvard, he also picked up new poker skills from Stephen Jay Gould.

After Harvard, he was a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University (where he worked with the man he considered his principal mentor, Bob Carroll), and at the National Museum of Natural History. Following stints at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, he returned to NMNH as the Associate Director for Research and Collections in 2005. He left senior administration and rejoined the Department of Paleobiology in 2009.

Hans was active in the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and was a member of the Committee on Research and Exploration at the National Geographic Society for many years. He was an editor for many scientific journals and authored more than 150 scientific papers and book chapters. His book The Rise of Reptiles: 320 Million Years of Evolution (Johns Hopkins University Press) has become an essential resource in the field since its publication in 2019. He had many awards and honors; the two he was most proud of were being recognized by the Studienstiftung as a young man in Germany and being made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Hans’s research took him to Germany, the Navajo Nation (in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest), Nova Scotia, Virginia, Texas, Morocco, Niger, Uzbekistan, China and many other places. The adventures that ensued on those trips would fill at least one book and included getting shot at (more than once), a political coup and bathing in camel watering troughs in the desert.

Hans named many new species of fossil reptiles and had, at the time of his death, almost achieved his goal of one new genus name for each letter of the alphabet. The pachycephalosaurid dinosaur genus Hanssuesia is named in his honor.

All his scientific and professional accomplishment aside, Hans was an extremely funny, generous man whose breadth and depth of knowledge were extraordinary. He loved his family, his cats, his research and his colleagues. For an idea of who he was, check out the Smithsonian’s “The Dr. Is In” YouTube series, which made him many fans and even a few groupies. Another source of the essential Hans is his recent appearance on Paleo Nerds: a Prehistoric Podcast. In his own words, he talks about how he became the scientist he was and gives a peek into just how wide-ranging his interests and expertise were.

Finally there is this anonymous reddit post, written after his death, which describes Hans perfectly:

I knew Hans for over 20 years, first meeting him when I was a student. He was one of the kindest people you could ever meet, and also one of the smartest. Hans was a giant in the field, having published broadly on everything from pachycephalosaurs (including some foundational work in functional morphology and biomechanical modeling) to turtles to lizards and so much more. Thinking through my own memories, and seeing tributes from many in the field, it is notable that most people only briefly mention his scientific accomplishments. Instead, they focus on his kindness, sense of humor, love of his family, and love of life. He made a positive impact on so many people–this loss cuts pretty deep as a result, because the scientific loss is one thing (there are always plenty of paleontologists to do the work!), but the loss of Hans as a human being is incalculable. (and his giggle was infectious – check out the “The Doctor Is In” YouTube videos from the Smithsonian – they capture his mischievous sense of humor so authentically).

Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 8601 Wolftrap Rd., Vienna, Va., on Tuesday, March 10th at 11:00 AM. A reception will follow in the DeSales hall at the church.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Hans’s name to:

* Any cat rescue organization

* The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology