Honoring Prof. Emeritus Michael Agar

Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Michael Agar passed away on May 20, 2017. The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and the Department of Anthropology mourn the loss of a cherished colleague, teacher, mentor and friend.

Michael H. Agar was born in Chicago in 1945. He considered his hometown to be Livermore, California, where his family relocated in 1956.

Professor Agar graduated from Stanford with a degree in anthropology in 1967. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1971. Professor Agar accepted a commission in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service during graduate school. He taught at several universities, foreign and domestic, including the University of Vienna and the Intercultural Management Institute at the Kepler University in Linz. Professor Agar's longest academic appointment with a domestic institution was at the University of Maryland.

Professor Agar has left an lasting impression on many anthropologists. His numerous books have been lauded as groundbreaking ethnographies, and his book Professional Stranger is read widely and is required reading in many graduate programs.

Professor Agar taught in the Anthropology Department for more than a decade, and his ethnography courses were always popular.

“Mike was one of the major foundations in creating our MAA program. He was a large intellectual presence in our department and in the field,” said Professor Paul Shackel.

Professor Agar is survived by wife, Ellen Taylor; his sister, Mary, and brother, Tom; and by numerous nieces, nephews and their children.

Learn more about Professor Agar and memorials.

Published on Wed, May 24, 2017 - 1:37PM