Obituary: Ananthakrishnan Aiyer

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Ananthakrishnan Aiyer, associate professor of anthropology and department chair of sociology, anthropology and criminal justice in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Michigan-Flint, died March 20 after a brief illness.

Ananthakrishnan Aiyer

Aiyer was deeply involved in the campus and the community since his arrival in 2000. In addition to his duties as department chair in the College of Arts and Sciences, Aiyer also was the director of the International and Global Studies Program. He was instrumental in bringing numerous speakers and films to the campus for a discussion of global issues. An accomplished scholar, Aiyer’s work focused on global issues of inequality, including research in India on the political economy of water. He had been co-editor of the journal, Dialectical Anthropology, since 2013.

Aiyer earned his Bachelor of Arts in sociology and anthropology from St. Xavier’s College at the University of Bombay, and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in anthropology from Temple University.

Aiyer leaves his wife Jennifer Alvey, associate professor in anthropology and women and gender studies at the UM-Flint, as well as many family, friends, colleagues and students.

— Submitted by UM-Flint

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