Susan Lurie was born in New York.  She studied at universities in the US, received a PhD in biology from City University of New York, and came to live in Israel the last week of 1972 to take up a postdoctoral position at the Hebrew University.  She worked there until 1980 when she moved to the Agricultural Research Organization (Volcani Center) as a senior researcher.  She retired at the end of 2010, but has continued as a volunteer in her department which is the Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce.  She is on the ESRA board in Rehovot.  She has three children and, currently, three grandchildren.