Suzanne O'Reilly


Suzanne Yvette O'Reilly is an Australian professor of geology noted for her pioneering contributions to mapping the deep Earth with an interdisciplinary approach. In 2007, the Royal Society of New South Wales awarded her the Clarke Medal for outstanding contributions to Australian geology. She has over 350 peer-reviewed publications with over 21,000 citations, and has supervised more than 40 PhD students to graduation.

Early life and education

O'Reilly was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales. She went to high school in Goulburn, and was a Professor Harry Messel International Science School Scholar at the inaugural event for students held at the University of Sydney in 1962. She later attended the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in geology and general earth science. In 1971, O'Reilly earned her doctorate, also from the University of Sydney, for her thesis on basaltic rocks of the Southern Highlands.

Current Positions

O'Reilly is currently a Distinguished Professor in geology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. O'Reilly has been the director of the ARC National Key Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents since 1995 and leader of the Lithosphere Mapping and Mantle Dynamics Group in GEMOC. She is also the director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems. She is concurrently professor of earth sciences at Nanjing University and a guest professor at China University of Geosciences. In 2013, she was Copernicus Visiting Professor at the University of Ferrara. Lyon University awarded her a Docteur Honoris Causa.

Research interests

Professor O'Reilly's fields of research include:
O'Reilly lives in Sydney, Australia.