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In Memoriam
Wilbur Brookover, a longtime professor
of sociology, social studies, education and urban and metropolitan studies
and former mayor of East Lansing, died April 6, 2003, at the age of 92.
Among his many accomplishments in a distinguished research career was
serving as an expert witness in the school desegregation case of Brown v.
the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. He also hired MSU’s first black
secretary, Josephine Wharton. Dr. Brookover was also active in politics,
serving as mayor of East Lansing from 1971 to 1975. At MSU, he joined the
faculty in 1946 after serving in the United States Navy. Among his many
duties at MSU, he served as director of the Bureau of Educational Research
(1957–60), assistant dean of the College of Education (1960–63), and
associate director of the Center for Urban Affairs (1970–73). He was the
author, co-author, and co-editor of four books, including the influential
Sociology of Education. | Back to Contents | Our Faculty: 1, 2, 3, 4 | |