APSA mourns the passing of Dr. Kenneth Sherrill, professor Emeritus of Political Science at Hunter College, CUNY, with a research focus on American politics, public opinion, and Gay and Lesbian politics. Sherrill died on Saturday, December 2, 2023.
Steve Smith, APSA Executive Director, shares:
“On behalf of APSA, I would like to express my profound sadness on the passing Professor Kenneth Sherrill. Ken was a wonderful person and a transformational scholar in the discipline. He pioneered the study of LGBTQ politics over 50 years ago and mentored countless students and faculty over the course of his long career. He will be greatly missed, but he leaves an enduring legacy in his outstanding research and his many, many friends, colleagues, and students who were inspired and mentored by him.”
Over the course of his career, Dr. Sherrill served on several APSA committees, including the Committee on the Status of LGBT Individuals in the Profession (he was one of the original members in 1993), the Committee on Professional Ethics, Rights, and Freedoms, and the Committee on Departmental Services. He also served as an APSA Mentor and was a founding member of the LGBT Caucus in the 1987-1988 academic year (after participating in a previous effort to organize a formal caucus in the 1970s).
There are two awards named in Dr. Sherrill’s honor: The APSA Kenneth Sherrill Prize is given for the best dissertation proposal for an empirical study of LGBTQ+ topics, and the Kenneth Sherrill Best Dissertation is an award of the Sexuality and Politics Organized Section that honors a defended dissertation on a queer topic. He generously supported these funds and was a founding member of the of the APSA Legacy Society. In 1973, Dr. Sherrill also authored and presented the first article on LGBT politics at an APSA annual meeting.
Ken was a consummate academic organizer, leader and macher, serving among other things as chair of his department and of the Hunter College Faculty Senate. Ken was also an activist and Democratic party boss, serving as New York City’s first openly gay elected official after being elected the party’s District Leader in New York’s 69th Assembly District in 1977. Ken was a tireless correspondent: for years, his listserv “KensList” was an eclectic and humorous source for news about politics, culture, and anything queer. He was a great raconteur, one of the qualities that made him a go-to source for local journalists seeking insightful and memorable quips about NYC politics.
Generous, fearless, funny, wise, and irreverent, Ken was one-of-a-kind, and this memorial note only begins to do his fantastic story justice. I will deeply miss my mentor, collaborator and sweet friend. May his life be an inspiration and his memory be a blessing for us all. – Patrick J. Egan, Associate Professor of Politics and Public Policy, NYU and member of the Sexuality and Politics APSA Organized Section
To learn more about Dr. Sherrill’s research, his impactful career and his many contributions to the profession, read Celebrating Fifty Years Of LGBTQ+ Scholarship: Kenneth Sherrill, An LGBTQ+ Leader Who Has No Trouble Finding Followers by Jerry Thomas, Chair of the APSA Committee on the Status of LGBT Individuals in the Profession. The Status Committee, LGBT Caucus and the Sexuality and Politics Section will be holding a celebration of this milestone at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA.
Just learning today about the loss of Ken Sherrill, a friend and mentor, I recorded this with him during the pandemic and if you miss him, I hope you’ll listen https://t.co/rm3DbShr5C
— Heath Brown (@heathbrown) December 3, 2023
References
Ackelsberg, Martha. 2017. The Politics of LGBTQ Politics in APSA: A History (and Its) Lesson(s). Brettschneider, Marla, Burgess, Susan and Keating, Christine. LGBTQ Politics: A Critical Reader, New York, USA: New York University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479849468.001.0001. Stable URL for chapter: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1pwt8jh.14
Thomas, Queer (Jerry), Celebrating Fifty Years of LGBTQ Scholarship: Kenneth Sherrill, An LGBTQ Leader Who Has No Trouble Finding Followers. Political Science Today. 2023;3(3):3-4. doi:10.1017/psj.2023.51
Wilson, Angelia R. 2017. Our Stories Brettschneider, Marla, Burgess, Susan and Keating, Christine. LGBTQ Politics: A Critical Reader, New York, USA: New York University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479849468.001.0001. Stable URL for chapter: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1pwt8jh.14
I’m heartbroken. I’ve been working on an essay titled, Harvey Milk is Dead, but Ken Sherrill Lives —a tribute piece honoring Ken’s often-eclipsed contributions, which (as Steve and Patrick note) are extensive. I’m a better person because of Ken.