TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
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 department, take a lot of focus and energy. He was always pushing [UCLA] to fulfill its commitments to access and diversity.
Studies at UCLA hosted students from Historically Black Colleges for a pro- gram simulating graduate school. Collins said he was surprised by how personable and easygoing Dr. Sawyer was. “You’d see Dr. Sawyer walking around campus in tracksuits and Timberland boots,” Collins said. “He’s the guy you would never pick out of a crowd and say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s a full professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. The best opportunities to learn from him came from going into his office and talk- ing to him for half an hour.” Brother Dr. Sawyer spoke Spanish with a Cuban accent, despite growing up in the United States. While leading study
abroad programs in San Juan, Puerto Rico, locals would call him “El Cubano.” He served as a visiting associate profes- sor at Harvard and a Rockefeller African Diaspora Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Texas, Austin. He taught at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences Summer Institute as well. He was named mentor of the year in 2007 by the UCLA Aca- demic Advancement Program. “Although Mark was beset with seri- ous health challenges over the past few years, he persevered and insisted on mentoring students and participating in the life of the university,” said Robin Kelley, chair of UCLA African American
studies department, professor of history and the Gary B. Nash Chair in United States History. “He will be remembered as a brilliant scholar, a visionary academ- ic leader and a popular teacher whose enthusiasm for his subject was palpable and infectious.” Brother Sawyer is survived by his wife, Celia; his daughter, Nina; his parents, Ernest and Theresa; his brother, Mi- chael; his niece, Ashley; his nephew, El- lis and a host of other family members, friends and colleagues.
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