Juan Gómez-Quiñones '62, M.A. '64, Ph.D. '72

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Historian, professor of history, poet, and activist Juan Gómez Quiñones '62, M.A. '64, Ph.D. '72, beloved for his mentorship of generations of Chicano students as a UCLA faculty member for nearly 50 years, died of congestive heart failure Nov. 11 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 80.

In a reminiscence for the Los Angeles Times, Gustavo Arellano wrote, "He was the best type of professor a student could ask for: someone who changes your thinking, who challenges you at all times, but also offers feedback to build you up instead of tear you down."

Born in Mexico, Gómez-Quiñones' family moved to Boyle Heights, Calif., when he was an infant. He went to high school in Montebello, then entered UCLA, where he majored in English as an undergraduate, earned his M.A. in Latin American studies and his Ph.D. in history.

In a tribute, CSRC Director and Distinguished Professor Chon A. Noriega wrote, "He brought historical perspective, critical insight, and a movement-based sense of the need for immediate and direct action.

"His impact on both academia and the community started early. In 1969, as a graduate student, he was one of the student founders of the Chicano Studies Research Center; and, in 1974, now a professor, he became the CSRC's first longtime director, bringing focus and stability over the next decade to this new effort to create an *institutional* space for Chicana/o/x studies research at UCLA.

"His scholarship remains a beacon for those wanting to know a more inclusive and honest history of the United States and of the Mexican-descent peoples."