Dr. Susan Clare Scott, world renowned Asian art historian, passed away on September 13th, 2026 in Hanover, PA. Susan was born in Drexel Hill, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the third daughter of William Edwin Scott and Clar-Monna Waneta Darby. She studied English and art education at the Pennsylvania State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1964. She became a teacher of art and English in several school districts including Phoenixville, PA, Newark, DE, and Emmaus, PA. She then returned to her studies at Penn State and received her Masters of Arts degree in art history in 1978.

Susan then began her career as an art history teacher at Penn State in University Park, PA. Concurrently she worked as an author and editor for “Architectural Fantasy and Reality: Drawings from the Accademia Nazionale Di San Luca in Rome Concorsi Clementini 1700–1750,” which was published in 1982, and “Projects and Monuments” in 1984. As editor of “Papers in Art History” at Penn State for eighteen years, Susan contributed to scholarly collections such as “Light on the Eternal City,” “The Age of Rembrandt,” and “Paris: Center of Artistic Enlightenment.” Ten volumes in the series were published under Dr. Scott’s editorship.

In 1995, Dr. Scott earned her Doctor of Philosophy in the field of art history from The Pennsylvania State University, where she served as an assistant professor of art history until 2001.

In 2001, Dr. Scott accepted a role as assistant professor of art history at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. She contributed to several publications such as “Yinqzao Studies,” “East-West Connections: Review of Asian Studies, Volume 6,” and “Japan Studies,” as she continued her studies of Asian art and architecture.

Dr. Scott was a member of the International Society for Architectural History Studies, the Society of Architectural Historians, the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Japan Studies Association, and Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Organization for Women Educators. She was the only American to present at the first inaugural meeting of the Chinese Architectural History Society on the topic of preservation of ancient monuments. Dr. Scott has presented 31 scholarly papers at national and international conferences.

Dr. Scott taught Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture and the arts of Asia at McDaniel College until her retirement in May 2020. Her students often accompanied her overseas to view in person the art and architecture discussed in her classes.

Susan was predeceased by her father, William Edwin Scott; her mother, Clar-Monna Darby Scott; and her sister, Nancy Gray Scott. She is survived by her older sister, Sandra Morningstar; her younger brother, William Hayes Scott; her sister-in-law, Phyllis Scott; her nieces, Darby Young and Olivia Scott; her nephews, Roger Kaness, Matthew McAlonan, and Tim Scott; and their children and grandchildren. Special thanks to the family who cared for her in her last years: Sandor, Agnus, Gergely, Hamar, and Samual Sharpe.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or by visiting its website at www.stjude.org/donate.