TRIBUTE TO DR. MARK QUENTIN SAWYER
WHEREAS, In His infinite wisdom, almighty God has granted eternal peace to Dr. Mark Quentin Sawyer, a remarkable scholar, prolific author, outstanding educator, loving father and devoted husband, on March 26, 2017; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Sawyer began his life journey as the son of Ernest and Theresa Sawyer on the South Side of Chicago on January 10, 1972. He attended grammar school at Morgan Park Academy, graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School, and matriculated at the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana in 1994 where he majored in Political Science; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, Dr. Sawyer earned his PhD at the University of Chicago. He continued post-doctorate studies at Stanford in Palo Alto, California and began his career as an assistant professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) where he was granted tenure as a full professor; and
WHEREAS Dr. Sawyer was a prodigious writer and a distinguished scholar, publishing extensively on racial, political, gender, immigration and coalition politics. His initial book, "Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba," published by the prestigious Cambridge University Press in 2006, earned him critical acclaim and garnered 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. A dedicated champion of civil rights, justice and equality, he was instrumental in the creation of UCLA's Department of African American Studies in 2014 and co-founded the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Program in the UCLA Department of Political Science; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Sawyer was united in holy matrimony to Celia Lacayo. Their union was blessed by a daughter, Nina. In addition to his wife and eight-year-old daughter, Dr. Sawyer leaves behind, to mourn his loss and celebrate his legacy, his mother and father; a brother, Michael; an aunt, Joyce...
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