We are a department in mourning as our prayers go out to Ron’s wife and life partner Pat.  Ron’s presence will be missed dearly. We are honored to have known such a wonderful person, outstanding colleague, and friend. 

An expert on race and politics, Ron fought for civil rights.  As noted in the Washington Post, Ron was proud of his role in what was to be become the first lunch-counter sit-in, in the town of Wichita in 1958.  As a leader of the youth council of the local NAACP, Ron and his cousin Carol Parks organized a sit-in protest at the Dockum Drugstore.  Young African Americans sat at this drugstore’s lunch counter day after day while being refused service.  This group of protestors sat in silence, enduring taunts from white customers. 

Ron’s influence on comprehensive health care and a proposed two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian region was first considered radical but is now a generally accepted political discourse.

Dr. Walters joined the Department of Government and Politics in 1996 and became Professor Emeritus in 2009.  He was well-known in the field of Black Politics and was a very prominent public figure in radio, television and print.  Ron published nine books including  his award winning Black Presidential Politics in America: A Strategic Approach, in 1988 with the State University of New York Press, his prestigious 2003 book White Nationalism: Black Interests, the Conservative Movement and the Black Community, and most recently The Price of Racial Reconciliation, in 2008 with the University of Michigan Press.  He also published hundreds of chapters and articles. 

Ron received his Ph.D. in International Relations at the American University in 1971 with the dissertation, “The Formulation of United States Foreign Policy Toward Africa, 1958-1963.”  Ron also has a long list of renowned awards including the Ralph Bunche Award for the Best Book on Race and Politics from the American Political Science Association, the W.E.B. Dubois/Frederick Douglass Award from the African Heritage Studies Association, the Distinguished Scholar/Activist Award from The Black Scholar Magazine, and the First Annual Distinguished Service Award from the Wichita Black Historical Society. 

Dr. Walters leaves a great legacy.  He continues to shape scholars both old and young.

My most vivid memories of Ron Walters are his ever-present smiles. However depressing the news was, Ron never ceased to greet me with a broad smile. I have met few people who were as consistently and sincerely as upbeat. Whether he was talking about a new research project or contemporary political problems, he always had a positive attitude--and an encounter with Ron could make your day.
—Dr. Ric Uslaner, Professor, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland
 

I found out of his passing on Saturday and was saddened. Although I have not been here at Maryland long, Dr. Walters' work was well known and former students always spoke highly of him. He was very supportive of the Black Political Student Association and spoke at their event last May. His words inspired many of our African American students to become even more passionate about their pursuit of careers in political science and making a difference in society. He was a kind and great man and he will be missed.
—Felecia E. Commodore, Academic Advisor, Dept. of Government & Politics, University of Maryland
 

Professor Ron Walters was a great colleague, whose deep and wide experience and engagement with black political thought were valued by politicans and intellectuals at the highest levels. Walters was the model of the intellectual who eschewed the ivory tower. His involvement as a senior advisor to the historic presidential runs of Jesse Jackson in the 1980s, gave him an insider's knowledge of race and politics that he used to infuse his intellectual work. Walters spoke here at the law school in 2005 during a student-sponsored Town Hall on Reparations.

He and I shared many of the same intellectual interests and thus often ended up on panels and radio shows together. I regarded Professor Walters as an elder statesman whose thinking and work helped me shape my own views and direction, even on those few occasions when we found ourselves disagreeing (on air, usually). The loss of Ron Walters is great, but he leaves behind a body of work that will continue to influence and shape our understanding of race and politics in America.
—Professor Sherrilyn Ifill, University of Maryland School of Law
 

I am a former student and employee of Dr. Walters. During the second semester of my sophomore year I was enrolled two of Dr. Walters courses, while at the same time working as one of his undergraduate research assistants at the African American Leadership Institute. Working for Dr. Walters and having him as a professor was an absolute honor. It saddened me to learn of his passing. Dr. Walters has had an significant influence on me, as I'm sure he has had on so many others. It's unfortunate that I was not able to tell him of the impact that he had on me, but he will forever live on in my memory.
—Damika D. Baker, Outreach Coordinator, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University

If you would like to share your memories of the late Dr. Walters, please email the webmaster at jmathewson@gvpt.umd.edu.