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This obituary includes excerpts from the California State University Northridge website.
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Dr. Boris E. Ricks was an Associate Professor of Political Science at California State University, Northridge, since 2008. He passed away suddenly on September 5, 2024.
Professor Ricks earned his M.A and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California in 2003. He completed his dissertation, “Black Elected Officials, Leadership Style and the Politics of Race: Los Angeles, 1963-2003,” under the mentorship of the late Dr. Michael Preston, WPSA’s first African American President.
Within the American Political Science Association, Dr. Ricks held a number of leadership and committee positions. He began attending in the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference in 2008 and served as a track moderator starting in 2011-2014 for the Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Equality Track. He also served on the Teaching and Learning Conference Program Committee from 2012 through 2017, helping to organize the structure and content of the meetings.
Ricks has served on the executive committee and an award committee of the Political Science Education Organized Section and an award committee of the Race, Ethnicity and Politics Organized Section.
“We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Ricks. Boris was a wonderful scholar, researcher, teacher, and mentor who cared greatly for his students and colleagues. Dr. Ricks’ service and scholarly contributions have made a lasting impact upon the profession. He served with distinction on the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference Program Committee and always had a kind word for everyone he encountered. He will be dearly missed.”
– Kimberly A. Mealy, APSA Executive Director
Dr. Ricks was a devoted educator and scholar whose teaching and research spanned a wide range of topics. His scholarship focused on the study of government, politics, and political actors, with an emphasis on their origins, foundations, and interactions with groups and individuals. Within this framework, he concentrated on key concepts such as power, conflict, social justice, equality, relative deprivation, and representation. Dr. Ricks applied these concepts to analyze the socio-political impact of critical issues like voting rights, poverty, crime, education, environmental justice, and health disparities, particularly in urban settings. Dr. Ricks’s publications included articles, book chapters, and book reviews featured in The Journal of Race & Policy, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Journal of American History, National Political Science Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, American Review of Politics, and many other outlets.
Dr. Ricks was also a tireless and dedicated mentor, extending his guidance to students within and beyond the Political Science Department. His office was often marked by a long line of students eager to meet with him. Known for his fairness and kindness, he was deeply respected and highly popular among his students.
“Dr. Ricks impacted community, family, friends, students. The fact that longtime friend and colleague Dr. Renford Reese immediately reached out to us to share this gift to honor Dr. Ricks reflects those important elements. It is a testament to how Dr. Ricks lived his life of impacting people through the duality of education and relation. – Yan Searcy, Dean of CSUN’s College of Social and Behavorial Science
Dr. Ricks was also an active leader on campus, within the California State University system, and in the Los Angeles community. Dr. Ricks served on the CSUN Faculty Senate as well as on the CSU Academic Senate. He frequently contributed as a commentator for local television, radio, print, and social media news outlets. In 2023, he played a key role in leading the L.A. Governance Reform Project, collaborating with researchers from several Los Angeles universities. The project proposed significant reforms to the city council aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within the municipal government.
Dr. Ricks also held an advanced degree in Public Administration (M.P.A., University of Mississippi), and a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Mississippi Valley State University, where he was a star athlete as well as a star in the classroom. As a professional political scientist, Ricks was a brilliant scholar of Racial and Ethnic Politics, Black Politics, and Urban Politics.
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We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of our beloved friend and colleague Dr. Boris E. Ricks on September 5th, 2024. The WPSA sends our deepest condolences to Dr. Ricks’s family, loved ones, students and colleagues. Please read: https://t.co/t2mJEQvQCn
— Western Political Science Association – #WPSA23 (@theWPSA) September 13, 2024
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Dr. Boris Ricks Memorial Fund
The CSUN Political Science Department is raising funds for a scholarship established in honor of Dr. Boris Ricks, whose leadership and dedication has left a lasting impact on countless California State University, Northridge students. This scholarship will continue Dr. Ricks’s legacy by supporting students who have the potential for leadership at CSUN or in the community. Through this scholarship, we hope to empower recipients to achieve their academic and professional goals while honoring Dr. Ricks’s contributions to the Political Science Department, CSUN, and the Southern California community.
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