Robert Cummings, an expert on African development; 67
Robert J. Cummings, 67, a Howard University professor who was recognized as a foremost expert on Africa and African economic development, died of complications from cancer April 7 at Providence Hospital in the District of Columbia. He was 67.
Mr. Cummings taught African studies for 31 years at Howard, was the past director of the Center for African Studies and until recently was chairman of the department of African Studies. He was the first black scholar to serve as president of the 30,000-member African Studies Association.
Widely respected as an author and scholar of the African diaspora, he lectured on East African labor and transportation systems, African migration and national development, African economic development strategies, African-American history, and US public and foreign policy. He spoke throughout the Caribbean and in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
He was a masterful storyteller and teacher, said Judi Moore Latta, a Howard professor and chairwoman of the Department of Radio, Television and Film.
"He told stories," Latta said. "Sometimes, it would be about the most complex economic development, and he would relate it to his growing up" in Perry, Fla., to help people understand the concept, she said.
Mr. Cummings was raised by an aunt and uncle and graduated with a degree in European history from Florida A&M University. After college, he taught history at a high school in Dade City, Fla., and was an adjunct faculty member at St. Leo University.
In 1965, he received a master's degree in American history from what is now North Carolina Central University. In 1969, while he and his wife were teaching at Winston-Salem College, he took part in a teacher education project that allowed them to travel to six African countries, beginning his fervent interest in Africa.
In the early 1970s, he obtained a certificate in Kiswahili and African culture from the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He was a lecturer and research associate in history at the University of Nairobi from 1972-73. He received a doctorate of philosophy in African economic history from UCLA in 1975.
When he joined Howard, it had the only recognized African Studies Center at a historically black university. He continued to be a force in the department through administration changes.
In 1994, Mr. Cummings led a 12-member delegation of professional staff and students to South Africa to serve as official observers of the first democratically held national elections in South Africa.
A highly regarded researcher, he was senior Africa research fellow for the Congressional Black Caucus, senior American scholar for the South African Education Program-Institute for International Education, and Howard University Republic of South Africa scholar-in-residence in Cape Town, South Africa.
He leaves his wife, Melbourne; two sons, and a brother.
