Susan Jean Picus (27 August 1948 – 17 November 2021) was an American

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. A graduate of

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

, she had worked as a software engineering manager and director at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

Unix System Laboratories Unix System Laboratories (USL), sometimes written UNIX System Laboratories to follow relevant trademark guidelines of the time, was an American software laboratory and product development company that existed from 1989 through 1993. At first wh ...

Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the lead ...

, and

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...

. She was married to

Barry Rigal Barry Rigal (born 1958) is a bridge player, author, commentator and journalist. Born in England, he was married to world champion Sue Picus and lives in New York. Rigal has represented England in the Camrose Trophy Home International series five ...

, a bridge player, writer and commentator.

Bridge accomplishments

Picus won four international events as a player and placed second in another; she captained the gold medal women's team in the 1997 and 2013 Venice Cup. She finished first or second in every one of the eight US women trials in which she played from 1991 to 2003, bar 1996. She won her first two US titles before becoming a Life Master.

Wins

Venice Cup The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship contract bridge tournament for national of Women. It is contested every odd-number year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Bermuda Bowl (Open) and d'Orsi Bowl (S ...

(3) 1991, 1993, 2003 *

McConnell Cup McConnell Cup is a team event for women held every four years as part of the World Bridge Series Championships. The event was inaugurated in 1994 and is named in honor of Ruth McConnell, former treasurer for the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and ...

(1) 1994 *

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...

(10) **

Smith Life Master Women's Pairs The Smith Life Master Women's Pairs North American bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Smith Life Master Women's Pairs is a four session MP pairs event, two ...

(1) 2009 **

Machlin Women's Swiss Teams The Machlin Women's Swiss Teams North American bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Machlin Women's Swiss Teams is a four-session Swiss Teams event with tw ...

(3) 1986, 2002, 2005 **

Wagar Women's Knockout Teams The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams is a knock-out team event. The event is restric ...

(2) 1972, 1991 **

Sternberg Women's Board-a-Match Teams The Sternberg Women's Board-a-Match Teams bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) and is a four session board-a-match event, two qualifying sessions and two final sess ...

(2) 1997, 2004 **

Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match The Mixed Board-a-Match Teams is a bridge competition held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). From 2010 the event is officially the Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match Teams, as it is contested ...

(2) 1971, 2000

Runners-up

(1) 1995 *

Whitehead Women's Pairs The Whitehead Women's Pairs bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Whitehead Women's Pairs is a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying ...

(1) 1983 **

(2) 1990, 1994 **

(3) 1985, 2002, 2004 **

(2) 1986, 1996

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picus, Sue 1948 births 2021 deaths Place of birth missing Date of birth missing American contract bridge players New York University alumni Sportspeople from New York City University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Venice Cup players