Gordon Daniel Morgan

Gordon Daniel Morgan (October 31, 1931 – December 17, 2019) was an American sociologist who became the first Black professor at the University of Arkansas in 1969.[1][2]

Life

Gordon Morgan was born in 1931 in Mayflower, Arkansas to Roosevelt Morgan and Georgia Madlock Morgan. He went to college at the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College (the largest and oldest historically black college in the state, which later (re)joined the University of Arkansas system as University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff),[3] where he graduated in sociology in 1953.[4] Morgan served in the US Army from 1953 in the Korean War, and became first lieutenant in the artillery.[1]

He continued graduate studies as one of the first Black students at the University of Arkansas (MA in sociology, 1956),[5] and then continued at the University of Minnesota and Washington State University (PhD, 1961).[6][1][7][5]

He married in 1957 with Izola Preston, and they had 4 children.[1]

Academic

After working as researcher in Kampala, Uganda and teaching at his alma mater Arkansas AM&N and Lincoln University (Missouri), Morgan was hired as the first Black assistant professor at the University of Arkansas in 1969.[4][8] He did research on a range of topics, including the intersection between race and education, the Caribbean, the use of the dollar standard in African countries and sociology in general.[7][9]

Morgan co-founded the university's Black Student Association in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.[10][11] in 1969 and mentored thousands of students.[7]

Morgan published multiple books, including America without Ethnicity (1981) and more for public consumption The Edge of Campus: A Journal of the Black Experience at the University of Arkansas (1990, together with his wife).

Morgan retired in 2012.

Recognition

Morgan was appointed as 'University Professor', a distinguished status reserved for professors with national or international recognition that have extensive tenure.[7] The university named one of the student residence halls after him: Gordon Morgan Hall.

References
  1. "Morgan, Gordon D. 1931–". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  2. "Interviews". Pryor Center - University of Arkansas. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. "History - University of Arkansas System". University of Arkansas System. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. "First black professor hired by UA dies at 88". Arkansas Online. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  5. Inlow, Alana (2020). "Remembering Gordon Morgan, "first, last, and always a sociologist" | Sociology News | Washington State University". Sociology News - College of Arts & Sciences, Washington State University. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  6. "Tribute to Gordon Morgan from the BAS President | Arkansas Alumni Association's Blog". blog.arkansasalumni.org. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. "Remembering a Trailblazer, Mentor and University Professor: Gordon Morgan". University of Arkansas News. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  8. "Gordon Morgan Interviews". pryorcenter.uark.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  9. "Gordon Morgan | University of Arkansas". fulbright.uark.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  10. Komar, Sarah (2020-02-04). "Professor's Legacy Continues Through Students, Faculty He Inspired". The Arkansas Traveler. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  11. Willis, James F. (2009-10-28). Southern Arkansas University: The Mulerider School's Centennial History, 1909-2009. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4415-5363-8.
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