Bryan L. Isacks

Bryan L. Isacks, ninety years old, passed away on September 9, 2026 from complications of a severe stroke he suffered in 2020. Bryan loved his family and friends, and his work, and he brought joy to those who lived with and worked with him.

Bryan grew up in New Orleans, raised by his remarkable mother, Sue Bryan Isacks, who raised three beautiful young children, Bryan, the oldest was only 8, after her young husband Leonard Smith Isacks died in WWII. When Bryan was 14, his mother remarried and then Bryan loved having three younger siblings. The National WWII D Day Museum in New Orleans includes an exhibit about Bryan’s father.

Bryan attended undergraduate and graduate school at Columbia University on scholarship. He began his career as a Columbia geophysicist whose work led him to create scientific base camps around the world, including the Arctic, the Andes, and the South Pacific. After becoming a professor at Columbia University, Bryan joined other Columbia colleagues who moved in 1971 to Cornell University. Bryan loved his work, his students, and his colleagues throughout his long career.

As one of three professors working on the Cornell Andes Project, Bryan made breakthrough discoveries about the movement of tectonic plates and their effects on the surface of the Earth. His work helped illuminate the profound connections among the movement of the Earth’s crust, the formation of mountains, and the landscapes and climates we see today. Bryan’s seismological research with Prof. Jack Oliver and Prof. Lynn Sykes led to a landmark paper they wrote in 1968 highlighting their study their theory of plates shifting under the earth’s surface.

In 2014 Bryan was awarded a gold medal by the American Geophysical Union:

“Many would agree that the recognition of plate tectonics has been the most significant development in the geosciences since Darwin and Wallace proposed evolution by natural selection…No one has made a greater contribution to our understanding of the subduction of oceanic lithosphere than Bryan Isacks.” At Cornell Bryan served as the William and Katherine Snee Professor of Geological Sciences, the Director of the Institute for the Study of the Continents (INSTOC), and Chairman of his Department for many years. Throughout his career, Prof. Muawia Barazangi, Bryan’s best friend for decades, collaborated on many projects. Bryan loved best creating projects in which he could include colleagues and students, never pulling rank as leader, and sharing credit with all involved. His consulting over the years with NASA and the National Science Foundation enabled him to introduce a wide array of his students and colleagues to be obtain employment and funding, enhancing the inclusion for people of color and women, which Bryan quietly championed throughout his life.

After Bryan’s stroke, he appreciated the many ways his colleagues Terry Jordan and Rick Allmendinger, Larry Brown, Matt Pritchard, Dan Karig, Steve Gallo and Rob Ross (Museum of the Earth) included him paralyzed in his wheelchair, and brought the world of geophysics into his restricted life when he could no longer travel at all. Bryan was a steadfast advocate for the creation of the Museum of the Earth (MOE) in affiliation with his department at Cornell. He also led a project in the Finger Lakes region that studied and described how ice sheets so beautifully sculpted the landscape. Visitors can walk through a model glacier exhibit at the MOE that Bryan created to illustrate this glacial evolution and watch a video explaining how the melting glaciers led to the creation of the Finger Lakes.

Bryan is survived by his wife for almost 40 years, Marjorie Olds, who was beside Bryan daily for six years post-stroke, and by his beloved children: Lillian Isacks (Tem Calfee), Katherine Isacks (Jason Ensher), Susan Isacks, Bryan Isacks, Jr. (Andrea), Brett Olds (Angela), and Robert Olds, as well as his grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, and extended family.

Bryan and Marjorie are deeply grateful to the many organizations and individuals who helped Bryan after his stroke: Donna George, formerly of Hospicare; Dr. Sharon Ziegler and her steadfast team in Family Medicine; Kristen Wells and her terrific staff at Gadabout; Ithaca College Professor Jessica Valdez Taves, along with Professor Angela DiFrancesco Reynolds of the renowned Center for Life Skills; the kind staff of the CMC Emergency Department and the wonderful 4th Floor North team at Cayuga Health; Dr. Sami Husseini, Nurse Tammy Pakkala, Emily Adams and Paulus Dominicus, Greg and Beth Harrington of Wonderful Wheelchairs, the Ithaca Free Clinic, and the many other organizations they created and support; Jan Lynch of the Finger Lakes Independence Center; and the amazing 3rd Floor staff at Cayuga Ridge, whose gentle, attentive, and creative care sustained Bryan and his wife during his final chapter. Nurses Mary Lou, Heather, Joy, Lynn, and Eliza, Asia, Justina and the wonderful aides and other kind and hard-working staff, including extraordinary therapists Jenn and Manoj, were the very best caretakers one could ever find. At Cayuga Ridge the most stricken residents and their families were welcomed in and cared for in a community, where everyone was valued.

We also thank cousin Sheryl Pearson, dear friend Barbara Lifton, brother Dr. Ronald Zagoria and amazing sister-in-law Kat Zagoria for their never ending support, guidance, and love. We could not have made it through these years without them. Bryan cherished his daughter Lillian and son-in-law Tem Calfee’s creative, loving companionship, and Bryan, Jr. lifted his father’s spirits and brought him joy.

In lieu of a traditional memorial gift, please befriend a family or friend who need help, or visit someone who once ranged freely and is now confined to a hospital, facility, or wheelchair.

And please consider supporting the remarkable array of local services that are there for all of us when we are most in need of help.