Sean Lawrence O’Sullivan ’88

Sean died Oct. 17, 2023, after a courageous battle with brain cancer.

Born in Bari, Italy, in 1965, Sean moved to Cambridge, Mass., at age 10. He graduated from Commonwealth School (Boston) in 1983 and matriculated with the Princeton Class of ’87.

Sean majored in English and immersed himself in writing, earning numerous accolades and serving as sports editor for The Daily Princetonian. After a year off, he graduated summa cum laude with the Class of ’88 and received a Marshall scholarship to study at the University of Bristol in the UK.

Sean pursued a Ph.D. in English at Yale University and went on to teach at Clemson University and The Ohio State University. At Ohio State, he earned tenure as an associate professor and served the community for 17 years, impacting students and colleagues with his scholarship.

Sean shared a profound bond with his wife, Hannah; their children, Rory and Eve; and his mother, Gwen. He cherished the moments they spent together. According to Hannah, Sean’s kindness, cleverness, and ability to connect ideas endeared him to everyone who knew him.

One of his professors at Princeton, Esther Schor, described Sean as a remarkable student with an extraordinary talent for writing. His work for The Boston Globe earned high praise from sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy, who said, “If someone asked me who was the best young talent in sports writing, I would say Sean.”