Professor Emeritus Arvarh Strickland has seen a lot of change since he first moved to Columbia to accept his post in the history department as MU’s first African American professor in 1969. Another change came today when the General Classroom Building, located at the corner of Missouri Avenue and Rollins Road, was renamed in his honor.
Strickland has many accomplishments to boast about, including the African American historians he has mentored while working at MU. “One of the reasons I was so happy to get an appointment in the history department at MU was that I wanted to be part of training other African-American historians,” he said.
He also speaks with great pride of the graduation of his son, Bruce, and granddaughter, Janae, from MU. One of the best moments, he said, was when he “was permitted two years ago to hand my granddaughter her diploma for her bachelor’s degree in biology.”
To read more about Professor Strickland, please read this article. For more on the dedication ceremony, take a look at this article.
