It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my dear friend, Dr. Mark Fossett, Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University, founding Director of the Texas Federal Statistical Research Data Center (RDC) and former President of the Southern Demographic Association.

I had the opportunity to work with Mark at the Texas Federal Statistical Research Data Center for over 7 years. Every day, I saw his kindness. Kindness is a word I’ve heard friends use when talking about him since his recent passing. Mark was one of the most genuine people that I have ever met. He loved his ‘sweetheart’ Betsy and children Lane, Tyler and Kate with his entire heart. His face would light up when he spoke about them.

“That guy is a genius,” was a common remark from folks who would leave Mark’s office and come to mine. Students and faculty from all around the university would go to Mark because he was so smart but also because of his kindness. It was an honor to work with him and I will miss him dearly.

Mark received numerous research grants to further the understanding of racial and ethnic inequality and segregation. He invested heavily in developing programs that increased equitable access to scholarship for undergraduate students and he published numerous papers and books advancing scholarship in his field. His passing is a loss to demography, but his students will carry on because of his investment in them.

Mark’s dear friend, Walt Peacock wrote about Mark…

Mark was such an extraordinarily special person, colleague, and scholar. He was dedicated to making things better, fairer, and more equitable, whether we were talking about his department, the college, university, and, quite frankly, the world. Not surprisingly Mark’s research areas also focused on key issues of inequality, segregation, and racial and ethnic relations. His approach and work reflected not only his keen concerns about the importance of these issues in our world but also his commitment to science and measurement. He demanded the highest rigor in research if it was to provide insight and understanding, particularly if it was to have significance in shaping policy. He was an early developer of agent-based simulation approaches to model and capture how a variety of factors, including preference, shape segregation patterns in urban systems. His recent efforts developing new approaches for measuring and assessing residential segregation clearly reflected his drive to develop more valid and reliable tools upon which to base our science.

Mark was a great, supportive, and kind friend with a wonderful wit and amazing insight. I count myself as being amazingly lucky to have been able to spend so many wonderful hours with him, whether talking over a beer or while walking around the disc golf course, or even working on a proposal or planning out a summer institute schedule. He helped make my life richer, as he did so many others. I will miss him dearly.

One of Mark’s former students and colleagues, Amber Crowell, reports that they finished their book (Racial and Ethnic Residential Segregation Across the United States, forthcoming Springer) applying methods and approaches for examining trends in racial/ethnic residential segregation. Amber wrote the passage below:

His commitment to doing the best quality research and to supporting students is one thing that everybody remembers about him. But there is not a single person who would not also mention how incredibly kind and generous he was. Students and junior faculty especially seem to have countless stories of him devoting extra time and effort to help them seek out opportunities and learn new skills. It was the greatest honor of my life to be his student, colleague, and friend.

These are just two passages from those who were close with Mark. I have heard from so many former students, colleagues, and others who adored him. I was honored to work with him for so long. He was brilliant, witty, and kind. He would help anyone who asked, including my then 4-year-old son who would go to Mark who always had quarters for him to buy a bag of barbecue chips from the vending machine.

We plan to celebrate Mark’s life and contribution to the field of demography at the upcoming SDA meetings. Details to follow.

Bethany DeSalvo