GAILEY, Harry A(lfred) 1926-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born December 4, 1926, in Kansas City, MO; died of congestive heart failure September 25, 2004, in British Columbia, Canada. Historian, educator, and author. Gailey was a professor emeritus at San Jose State University whose specialization was British colonial Africa. A veteran of the U.S. Army Air Forces who was also in the Army Reserve from 1946 to 1955, he worked as a mechanical and civil engineer in southern California from 1946 until 1952. His undergraduate and graduate work was done at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1958. Gailey's academic career began at Northwest Missouri State University; he was an associate professor and department chair there from 1957 to 1962. He then joined the San Jose State University faculty as an assistant professor, becoming a full professor in 1968 and later retiring as professor emeritus. While at San Jose, he was named an outstanding professor and a president's scholar, one of only a half dozen faculty members to have won both awards. Gailey was also a productive author, often writing about Africa and World War II. Among his many books are History of Africa from Earliest Times to 1800 (1970), History of Africa from 1800 to Present (1972), Africa: Troubled Continent (1982), Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign (1991), and MacArthur Strikes Back: Decision at Buna, New Guinea, 1942-1943 (2000).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Chronicle of Higher Education, October 15, 2004, p. A42.

online

Spartan Daily Online, http://www.thespartandaily.com/ (December 3, 2004).