Sociology Professor's Death Shocks UC Berkeley Campus

Renowned academic Michael Burawoy, 77, was killed in a hit-and-run in Oakland this week.

A renowned professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Oakland, police confirmed Wednesday.

Michael Burawoy, 77, died while crossing a street near Oakland’s Lake Merritt shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, police said. The driver of the SUV that struck him fled the scene and has yet to be found.

Tributes to Burawoy poured in Wednesday, with colleagues and friends recalling him fondly as a groundbreaking sociologist and tireless advocate for his students.

Raka Ray, the dean of social sciences at Berkeley, said in a statement to HuffPost that she was “reeling” from the news about Burawoy, who mentored her when she arrived at the university as an assistant professor. She called his death an “unimaginable loss.”

“Michael dedicated 47 years of his life to Berkeley, contributing immeasurably to the discipline, transforming the fields of labor, ethnography and theory. He was past president of the American Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association,” she said.