University Times

A memorial event will be held at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 12 in the University Club Ballroom A for Emmanuel O. Anise, Associate Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies and former associate professor of political science, who died Oct. 12, 2011, at age 71.

Anise was remembered by friends and family as an academician dedicated to teaching, and a deep and independent thinker who shared his wisdom, knowledge and principled beliefs with Pitt students.

Despite not starting formal schooling until age 15, the native of Igede-Ekiti, Nigeria, won an African Scholarship Program of American Universities Award for undergraduate studies in the United States, family members said. Anise earned his BA from Albion College, followed by a master’s and PhD in political science from Syracuse University.

He served on the faculty at Pitt for 38 years, beginning in 1970 as an assistant professor of black studies with a secondary appointment in political science. He was promoted to associate professor in 1975 and retired in 2008 with emeritus status.

Anise’s areas of expertise included comparative politics, Africa, world politics, political and economic development and political thought and philosophy.

In September 1992 Anise was involved in a controversy within the then-Department of Black Studies. At the time, Anise told the University Times that the conflict stemmed from a disagreement over the direction of the department: whether to focus more on African issues or on the concerns of black America.

Anise, who favored the former approach, temporarily was removed by the chair from teaching his assigned black studies courses, although he remained on the department’s faculty roster.

Anise authored two publications, the two-volume “The Impact of the Federal Structure and Party System on Political Integration in Nigeria, 1946-1970,” which was the subject of his dissertation at Syracuse, and “A Broad Examination of Pan-Africanism as an Ideology of African Unity.” His field research focused on the problems of development and nation-building in Africa, particularly West Africa, following World War II. During a two-year sabbatical, 1978-80, he compiled a comparative study of ethnicity, nation-building and politics in the West African countries of Benin, Ghana, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon. He also served as a visiting scholar at the University of Ife, Nigeria, in 1980-81.

Prior to coming to Pitt, Anise served as a research associate at Syracuse’s Development Resources Center; associate director of the Education Professions Development Act Institute’s project, “The Role of Afro-American and Puerto Rico Studies in the New York State School System,” and a consultant to the New York State Department of Education on African social studies programs in public schools.

Anise is survived by a son, Olabode; three daughters, Olabomi, Ayodola and Ayodope; grandchildren Olatunde, Oludayo, Olajire, Mayowa and Morayo; a brother, Olufemi, and cousins, nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Dr. Emmanuel O. Anise Scholarship Fund, 505 Boulevard Park East, Mobile, AL 36609.

—Peter Hart