Suzzy Sams served as the Visual Media Resource librarian for many years until her death in 2018. A beloved colleague in the Art Department, Suzzy had a long history with the university, obtaining first her BA and then her MLA at UNC Asheville before taking on the role of resource librarian for the department of Art and Art History. Suzzy was a life-long learner and deeply curious about art, history and photography and was thrilled to spend time in her later years at Oxford University researching medieval manuscripts. Despite her many physical and health challenges, she was an avid and intrepid traveler, first with her husband Jim and later with UNCA study abroad programs. She accompanied Dr. Dorothy Dvosky-Rohner (of the Art Department) many summers to Greece and later joined Dr. Laurel Taylor for a number of years at UNCA’s archaeology field school in Italy where she worked tirelessly as dig registrar and artifact photographer. Suzzy was always willing to help a student or a colleague and many were drawn to her wry wit and her compassion. As an important benefactor of the department, Suzzy endowed scholarships and awards to support the students and department that she considered her extended family.
