Concordia mourns the death of Donald Savage
Donald C. Savage, Associate Professor of History at Loyola College between 1961 and 1970 and the author, with Michel Desplandes, of the framework document for the founding of Concordia University, passed away at the age of 85 on February 14th.
While at Loyola, Don was one of the first in Canada to teach the field of African History, helped found The Canadian Journal of African Studies (which he proceeded to edit), established Loyola’s Centre for African History, and prepared many CUSO volunteers to serve in Africa, all while teaching and inspiring all three of Loyola’s Rhodes Scholars. His field research brought him close friendships with many leaders of the newly independent African nations, particularly in Kenya, and allowed him to collect rare archival material for Loyola’s Vanier Library.
Don left Loyola in 1970 to become Executive Secretary of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (1970-1997). He proceeded to write definitive works on academic tenure and freedom of expression, and worked creatively and sensitively to resolve numerous crises in Canadian universities. Concordia awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997. He last visited Concordia this past June, where he helped celebrate the award of another honorary doctorate, this one to his former student and protégé, Robert Calderisi.