Suree A. Moskowitz, 64, professor

Suree A. Moskowitz, 64, of Malvern, a psychology professor, restaurateur, and real estate agent, died of cancer Nov. 29 at home.

A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Dr. Moskowitz completed secondary school at a British boarding school in Simla, India. She attended the University of Oklahoma and colleges in California before earning a bachelor's degree from Sacramento State University. She earned a master's degree and doctorate in psychology from Ohio State University, where she met her future husband, Louis Moskowitz.

They married in 1971. Three years later, she began teaching at the Ogontz campus of Pennsylvania State University. There, Dr. Moskowitz was a grant evaluator for the U.S. Administration on Aging, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

She was active with the Chinese American Association in Philadelphia. In the 1990s, when a federal prison was proposed to be built in Chinatown, she conducted psychological interviews with Chinese American children for the association. She concluded that the children would be traumatized by prisoners living in such close proximity.

"She was always an active and inquisitive learner, never doing anything part-way," her husband said. When they were first married, he prepared the meals. She soon tired of his repertoire of six broiled or pan-fried dishes, he said, and became an excellent cook, collecting more than 1,000 cookbooks.

In 1982, Dr. Moskowitz opened a restaurant, Sweet Basil, in University City with her mother and father, Sukume and Prapin Assawamatiyanont. The menu featured Korean beef dumplings, Brazilian shrimp salad, Thai duck curry, an Indonesian rice dish, and an Indian dessert made with ricotta cheese, as well as dishes from Thailand, France, Italy, Greece and Egypt. She operated the restaurant in addition to teaching. Occasionally her husband, a clinical psychologist, helped as well.

In 1994, Dr. Moskowitz retired from Penn State, sold her restaurant, and embarked on a new career selling food-service businesses - most recently with Century 21.

In addition to her husband and parents, Dr. Moskowitz is survived by a daughter, Sasha; a son, Isaac; two brothers; and a sister.

Services are private. Memorial donations may be made to Home Care Hospice Foundation, One Radnor Corporate Center, 100 Matsonford Rd., Radnor, Pa. 19087.