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Two longtime professors at UC Berkeley recently died, university officials announced. 

William Alfred Shack, professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and dean emeritus of the graduate division, died March 31 after a battle with cancer. He was 76. 

A prominent scholar of African cultures, Shack was known internationally for his pioneering fieldwork on the Gurage people of Ethiopia and for a series of books on African society. 

Shack also was one of the first American anthropologists to undertake ethnographic studies focused on the problems of urban America. In the last years of his life, he returned to that interest, completing a manuscript just before his death on the role of African-American soldiers in the development of the jazz scene in Paris between 1918 and 1939. That work is now in press. 

“He was a scholar and a gentleman, one of the leading anthropologists of Africa and a man dedicated to public service,” Paul Rabinow, chair of UC Berkeley’s Department of Anthropology, said in a statement. 

Shack’s public service achievements extended beyond the campus. As dean of the Graduate Division, he established a student exchange program with several French universities that won him a high honor, the Chevalier L’Ordre National Du Merite, from France in 1987. Earlier in his career, Shack established a department of sociology and anthropology at Haile Sellassie 1 University in Ethiopia. 

Also, as chair for 10 years of the International African Institute based in London, Shack played an important role in promoting the study of Africa. 

In 1991, UC Berkeley conferred its highest honor, the Berkeley Citation, on Shack, in recognition of his multiple contributions. In addition to his top-ranking position as graduate dean, Shack chaired the anthropology department and was faculty assistant to the vice chancellor on affirmative action. Shack retired that year after 21 years on the faculty. 

Born in Chicago, Shack served in the South Pacific during World War II and later completed a bachelor’s degree at the Art Institute of Chicago, followed by a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago. 

Following pre-doctoral work in Ethiopia, where he became interested in the never-before-studied Gurage culture, Shack entered the London School of Economics, where he completed a Ph.D. in 1961. He held academic positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois before coming to UC Berkeley as professor in 1970. 

Shack is survived by his wife, Dorothy Nash Shack of Berkeley; a son, Hailu Araya Shack of San Francisco; a nephew and a niece. 

A memorial service was held last week. Memorial contributions may be sent to the William A. Shack Memorial Fund at the UC Berkeley Foundation, 2440 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, 94720. 

Earle Gorton Linsley, dean of the University of California, Berkeley, College of Agricultural Sciences from 1960 to 1973, died March 8 at a nursing home in Sonoma. He was 89. 

Among many contributions to the campus, Linsley played an important role in transforming UC Berkeley’s former agricultural college into the current College of Natural Resources, Henry J. Vaux Sr., former dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Forestry, said in a statement. 

“Dean Linsley led the college in the years leading up to the creation of the College of Natural Resources,” Vaux said. “He was very much concerned about the future of the College of Agricultural Sciences, and it was his leadership that enabled the college to retain its strength and to adapt.” 

At that time, “there were several departments in our college that could not be matched anywhere in the world,” said Professor Emeritus Woodrow Middlekauff, an associate dean under Linsley for 10 years. “( Linsley) fought to keep the academic strengths of these departments here on the Berkeley campus, where they originated.” 

Born in Oakland, Linsley was one of the world’s leading authorities on the classification and biology of wild bees and wood-boring beetles. He also made contributions in related fields including forest entomology, the pollination of agricultural seed crops, and the study of insects affecting stored food products. 

Linsley earned his Ph.D. in systematic entomology at UC Berkeley in 1938. He began his teaching career as an instructor at UC Berkeley the following year, and advanced to professor of entomology in 1953. He chaired the entomology and parasitology department from 1951 to 1959, and then became dean of the college. 

He published more than 400 scientific articles and books. His many honors included the Fellows Medal of the California Academy of Sciences, the Centennial Medal of the State Agricultural Experiment Station and the Berkeley Citation, a high honor on campus. 

After his retirement from UC Berkeley in 1974, Linsley focused on his other interests, including photography, sports, and a substantial stamp collection featuring birds, insects, flowers and other biological themes. 

Linsley is survived by two children, James Linsley of Santa Rosa and Joan Linsley MacFarlane of Auburn.