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• 1 2020-07-30T19:52:36+00:00 Niara Sudarkasa 2 plain 2020-07-30T20:04:01+00:00 Niara Sudarkasa (1938-2019, OC 1957) was born Gloria Albertha Marshall. She was an educator, anthropologist, and activist. Sudarkasa graduated from Oberlin College in 1957 with a B.A. in English and anthropology. She went on to enroll at Columbia University where she completed an M.A. in anthropology in 1959. After completing her degree, Sudarkasa began her Ph.D. at Columbia while also teaching at that university. She was the first African American woman to teach at Columbia. Sudarkasa later traveled to London and Nigeria in 1961 as part of her doctoral research. Her dissertation studied the Yoruba language and culture. She completed her Ph.D. in 1964. After graduating, Sudarkasa left Columbia to become an assistant professor of anthropology at New York University, the first African American woman to do so. In 1969, she became the first African American professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. She became the first African American female director of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at U of M and started the first Black Action Movement campaign to encourage more African American and African students to attend the university. When she left the U of M in 1986 she was the associate vice president for academic affairs. That year Sudarkasa was appointed the first female president of Lincoln University, a position she held until 1998.
  
  Sources:
  “Niara Sudarkasa.” The History Makers. Accessed January 21, 2020. https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/niara-sudarkasa-40.
  
  University of Michigan. “Obituary: Niara Sudarkasa.” The University Record. Accessed January 21, 2020. https://record.umich.edu/articles/obituary-niara-sudarkasa/.