Alisia Chase

After an illness of a few weeks, Dr. Alisia Grace Chase died at her Cobbs Hill, Rochester residence on Wednesday, May 27th, 2026. Born in Syracuse, New York, she was a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard. Dr. Chase earned her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, in Minneapolis. 

Dr. Chase is survived by her family whom she adored and were her guiding lights–her husband of twenty-seven years and the love of her life who she met while studying in Minneapolis, Duncan Andrew Chase of Rochester, NY; son Angus Williams Chase of Washington, D.C.; daughter Astrid Nina Chase of Baltimore, MD; and parents, James P. and Mary C. Burns of Rochester, NY. She was a fiercely loving wife, mother, and caretaker who made sure everyone in her orbit knew they were loved. She loved nothing more than to be surrounded by her family.

As an Art Historian and Professor of Art and Visual Culture at SUNY Brockport for over two decades, Dr. Chase was a respected scholar, educator, and mentor. She leaves behind an everlasting impact on students, colleagues, and scholarly record in the academic community. She devoted her career to teaching with passion, intelligence, and kindness, inspiring generations of students to appreciate the power of art and culture. She was a Recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Teaching awarded by SUNY. She was an accomplished academic with a number of articles in numerous scholarly journals, including many contributions to After/Image: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism and other research published by University Press of Mississippi, Fairer Disputations, and Film Quarterly.

In the last decade, Dr. Chase combined her passion for the art of the Italian Renaissance with her commitment to the Catholic Church. The Room of the Animals at the Vatican was among her favorite galleries, and she cheekily declared that DaVinci's best art was not the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, but could be found at the Galleria Borghese preferring his portrait, The Lady with an Ermine. She was active with Feminists Choosing Life, New York, and Rochester Rofters, of which she was the founder of the Chapter, along with her father. She also participated in some twenty odd charitable endeavors in the Rochester area. Many of her afternoons were spent walking the family dogs and talking to anyone and everyone at Cobbs Hill Reservoir.

Dr. Chase will be deeply missed and fondly remembered for her sharp wit; loyalty; generosity; profound intellect; creative passions; commitment to the arts; and faith in her beliefs by family, friends, colleagues, former students, and all who had the privilege of knowing her.

Services will be held at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Dewitt, N.Y. at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 4th. A Visitation will be held at the Church commencing at 9:30 a.m.