Remembering Professor Garrett Albert Duncan

The Department of Education community mourns the recent passing of Garrett Duncan, associate professor of education and of African and African American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, at Washington University in St. Louis. Duncan’s research explored issues of race, culture, education, and society, with particular focus — through his “Schooling as a Moral Enterprise” project — on the education of Black students in urban and suburban schools. He published extensively on Black youth, identity, language and ethics, and frequently wrote and commented for national and international news media. Professor Duncan taught a range of courses including the Education of Black Children and Youth, the Construction and Experience of Black Adolescence, Sociology of Education, Politics of Education, and Philosophies of Education. Affectionately known as GAD or Gee, Professor Duncan engaged students in critical intellectual inquiry and believed so fervently in students being change agents.