Donald Vernon McKay
Donald Vernon McKay, 75, a founder and retired head of the African studies department at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Study in Washington, died of respiratory failure on October 3, 1988. Dr. McKay taught history at Syracuse University and worked for the Foreign Policy Association in New York and for the State Department before joining the school of international study in 1956. He was department chair and professor there until retiring in 1978. He was a member of the American Historical Association, Council of Foreign Affairs, the American Political Science Association, the South African Institute of Race Relations, and the Cosmos Club.
Dr. McKay received a bachelor's degree in history at Baker University in his native Kansas, a master's degree in African studies at Syracuse University and a doctorate in African studies at Cornell University. He taught at Syracuse from 1936 to 1945, then was a research associate with the Foreign Policy Association in New York. Survivors include two daughters, Margaret Ann McKay and Patricia McKay Baker.
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