Professor Emeritus Val Burris passed away in Eugene on November 30th, 2024. He had had a stroke in July, had been in a care facility since then, and went into hospice care Thanksgiving week. Val was born May 8, 1947 and grew up in Texas. He started his position at the UO in 1978. He studied power structures and Marxist theory, with a particular interest in understanding how the ruling class maintains and wields power. Throughout his career he promoted a critical approach to sociological research, challenging elitism and injustice. He served as the editor of Critical Sociology from 1991-97. He is remembered for many contributions to UO Sociology, and I hope we can live up to his belief that rigorous social science is fully compatible with, and indeed essential for, critical sociology.