TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Dr. Mark Q. Sawyer 1972–2017 Professor, Scholar, Author versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chapter. Born on January 10, 1972, Dr. Sawyer was the son of Ernest and Theresa Saw- yer. Sawyer and his family lived in Chi- cago where he graduated in 1990 from St. Ignatius College Prep. After gradua- tion, Sawyer attended the University of Illinois where he graduated in 1994 with bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He returned to his hometown to attend the University of Chicago where he received a PhD in Political Science. Brother Sawyer moved to the west coast to begin his teaching career by joining the faculty at UCLA. While at UCLA, he helped to launch the school’s Depart- ment of African American Studies in 2014 whose efforts started a decade prior. He also co-founded the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Program in the UCLA Department of Political Science. The program has since attracted large numbers of graduate students, especially African Americans and Latinos. He served as the Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Poli-
C olleagues and friends charac- terized Dr. Mark Q. Sawyer as “a fierce and consistent ad- vocate for civil rights, justice, education, and equality.” Laura Gómez, interim dean of the UCLA Division of Social Sciences described him: “He had a lot of energy; he had a lot of passion. He was a fighter. These kinds of initiatives, such as the creation of a de- partment, take a lot of focus and energy. He was always pushing this university to fulfill its commitments to access and diversity.” Sawyer was a political science and African American studies professor at UCLA known for his work on race rela- tions in Cuba. “It is a great loss for our department,” said Jeffrey Lewis, UCLA department chair and professor of politi- cal science. “He was a hugely popular instructor with a devoted following.” Dr. Sawyer entered the Chapter Invisible at age 45 on March 26, 2017. A proud member of the K.S. Above the Law line, Brother Sawyer was a 1991 initiate of the Beta of Kappa Alpha Psi ® at the Uni-
tics, Associate Director of the Center for American Politics and Public Policy, and Chair of the Interdepartmental Program in African American Studies from 2011 to 2013. He published widely on racial, politi- cal, gender, immigration, and coalition politics. His first book in 2006, “Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba,” earned Sawyer critical acclaim and gar- nered major prizes in his field, including the Ralph J. Bunche Award from the American Political Science Association and the W. E. B. DuBois Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. His essays have appeared in SOULS, the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychol- ogy, Journal of Political Psychology, the DuBois Review, Perspectives on Politics, and the UCLA Journal of International and Foreign Affairs. Jonathan Collins, a graduate student in political science, met Dr. Sawyer as an undergraduate student when the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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