Lawrence A. Cardoso, chair of the history department at the University of Wyoming, died October 15, 1989 at the age of forty-nine.

Of Hispanic descent himself, Cardoso was an expert in the field of Latin American history. He was nearing the completion of White and Brown, a study of American attitudes toward Hispanics, at the time of his death. Previous publications include Mexican Emigration to the United States, 1897-1931 and the "Wyoming" section of Collier's Year Book 1989.

Cardoso received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He came to the University of Wyoming as a supply instructor of history in 1973 and became chair of the department in June of 1986. He was promoted to full professor in early 1989.