Professor Ousman Kobo has published a tribute to his mentor Professor William Brown in the new issue of The Journal of African History (Sept. 1, 2023).  

In the piece, he states, "When I arrived in Madison for my graduate studies in African History, I expected Professor William (Bill) Brown, the specialist on Islam in West Africa, to serve as my advisor. As the only Black faculty in the African history subfield and an expert in the region and subject I was interested in, it seemed a natural fit. I was deeply disappointed when I learned that he was not training graduate students and lamented this lost opportunity. But as I reflected on my academic training after graduation and assessed my experiences, it occurred to me that Brown had more of an impact on my training than I had at first appreciated. While his mentorship was informal, garnered mostly from private conversations, he persistently and bluntly exposed me to those historical materials and subjects he considered intellectually invigorating and timely."

Read the entire tribute.