by Howard Campbell
[NEW YORK] – Charles W. Mills, a Jamaican academic with a respected grasp of racial issues in the United States, died from cancer in New York on September 20 at age 70.
Mills was a Distinguished Professor in philosophy at City University of New York (CUNY), where he was a senior member of the Graduate Center Faculty since 2016.
In a statement reflecting on his illustrious career, CUNY hailed Mills as “an esteemed scholar and treasured colleague and mentor whose loss is deeply felt.”
Mills was born in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. He was the son of Gladstone Mills, a stalwart of the University of the West Indies’ department of government.
One of his uncles was Don Mills, who served as Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations.
Mills also lectured at Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Chicago, University of Oklahoma, University of Toronto, Campion College and the College of Arts, Science and Technology (now the University of Technology) in Kingston.
Recently, he was presented with the Benjamin E. Lippincott Award, for his seminal book The Racial Contract.
Charles W. Mills is survived by his brother Raymond, four nephews and one niece.
