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.

Professor Emeritus Linda Fuller died last week after declining from dementia and falls that broke her hips.  She had been a professor in Sociology for decades and finished her career in Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies. Linda was a scholar of labor, social change, and development and published books on democracy in the workplace in Cuba and East Germany. After retiring, she was living in Ashland, where she and Greg McLauchlan, also long-time member of the Sociology Department, had retired and were enjoying a wonderful life of hiking and friends and the theater.