Suzanne "Suzi" Oppenheimer (born December 13, 1934) is an American politician from New York, who served from 1985 to 2012 in the New York State Senate.

Early life and education

Oppenheimer was born on December 13, 1934, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She attended The Calhoun School in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. She graduated

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in economics from the Connecticut College for Women, and later earned a master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Graduate School of Business. After receiving her degree, she worked on Wall Street as an industry analyst for

L.F. Rothschild L.F. Rothschild (later known as L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin) was a merchant and investment banking firm based in the United States and founded in 1899. The firm collapsed following the 1987 stock market crash. History L.F. Rothschild ...

Career

She entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, and was President of the Mamaroneck League of Women Voters, and President of the PTA of the Central School in Mamaroneck. She served four terms as Mayor of the

Village of Mamaroneck Mamaroneck is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 18,929 at the 2010 census. its population was an estimated 19,131. It is located partially within the town of Mamaroneck and partially within the town o ...

, as well as President of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association and President of the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation. She was a member of the New York State Senate from 1985 to 2012, sitting in the 186th, 187th, 188th,

189th 189th may refer to: *189th (Canadien-Français) Battalion, CEF, a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War *189th Airlift Squadron, a unit of the Idaho Air National Guard that flies the C-130 Hercules *189th Airlift Wing, ...

, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, 194th, 195th, 196th, 197th, 198th and

199th New York State Legislature The 199th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5, 2011, to December 31, 2012, during the first two years of Andrew Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. State Senate ...

s. Her district was numbered the 36th from January 1985 to 2002, and the 37th from 2003 to 2012. The district comprised a part of

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

."Q&A with State Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer"
She was a pivotal political supporter of the efforts of the Jay Coalition (today's non-profit

Jay Heritage Center The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1990 and chartered by the New York State Board of Regents to act as stewards of the 23-acre Jay Estate, the National Historic Landmark home of American Foun ...

) to preserve the historic

Jay Estate The Jay Estate is a 23-acre park and historic site in Rye, New York, with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at its center. It is the keystone of the Boston Post Road Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District (NHL) created in 1993 ...

in Rye. Having attended private schools herself (

Calhoun School The Calhoun School is a progressive, co-educational, independent school on New York City's Upper West Side, serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade. Founded in 1896, the school currently has approximately 600 students, housed in two sep ...

), she is a staunch supporter of the national and New York teachers unions, the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 per ...

(AFT) and

United Federation of Teachers The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service teachers and 17,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about 54,00 ...

(UFT), respectively, and an opponent of

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

s. On Monday, December 6, 2010, Bob Cohen conceded to Oppenheimer after a lengthy ballot recount. She retired in 2012.

Awards and board memberships

In 2018, Oppenheimer received an award from the

UJA-Federation of New York UJA-Federation of New York ( United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annuall ...

given to her for her leadership and dedicated to the community. She and her husband sit on UJA-Federation’s Commission on the Jewish People Task Force.

Personal life

She is married to Martin J. Oppenheimer, a partner in the law firm

Proskauer Rose Proskauer Rose LLP (formerly known as Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, LLP) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1875 and currently employs more than 800 attorneys in twelve offices worldwide. P ...

; the couple has four children and eight grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppenheimer, Suzi 1934 births Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) Jewish mayors of places in the United States Connecticut College alumni Columbia Business School alumni Women state legislators in New York (state) Living people People from Mamaroneck, New York 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American Jews