South Africa RPCV Kimberly Rosario Perez, MSU Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and African Studies, died in a vehicle accident in Accra, Ghana



Kimberly Rosario Perez, MSU Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and African Studies, died in a vehicle accident in Accra, Ghana. After completing her BA at University of California-Santa Cruz, Kim served in the Peace Corps in Phokoane, South Africa, north of Johannesburg, on HIV/AIDS awareness and community development. She then completed an M.A. in Public Diplomacy and International Affairs at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Boston - and in 2003 enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Michigan State. In 2005, she completed all requirements of the Ph.D. in Sociology except for her dissertation -- completing her comprehensive exams faster than any of my graduate students that I can remember. After receiving several Title VI African Language and Area Studies Fellowships and reaching advanced proficiency in Hausa language, in a national competition in 2005 she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2006, the U.S. National Science Foundation granted her a Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Award in Sociology. Since January 2006, Kim has been living in Kano, Nigeria where she was consulting with faculty at Bayero University and conducting field research on "Decentralization and Representation in Nigerian Local Government: Bridging Ethnic, Religious, and Gender Cleavages in Kaduna, Nigeria," a topic she had developed at MSU from her extended travels in West Africa in 2004-05. In Accra, visiting on holiday, Kim was riding a "passenger lorry" near the center of the city. The driver swerved to avoid a vendor's pushcart in the road, and the vehicle flipped over. The vendor was hit and killed, and Kim also died immediately. Several other passengers were badly injured, and she and they were rushed to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the premier national referral hospital in Ghana.

South Africa RPCV Kimberly Rosario Perez, MSU Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and African Studies, died in a vehicle accident in Accra, Ghana

August 29, 2006

Letter from David Wiley, Director
Terrible Tragedy: Death of Kimberly Perez

Dear MSU Colleagues,

I write to tell you of a terrible tragedy - that Kimberly Rosario Perez, MSU Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and African Studies, died in a vehicle accident in Accra, Ghana, Monday afternoon, August 14. Kim was in Ghana on a short break from her intensive research in Kano in northern Nigeria.

Arrangements are being made for the return of her body from Accra to her family in San Diego, California. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alberto and Estrella Perez and is survived by two brothers, Kenneth Perez and Kevin Perez. She was 30.

After completing her BA at University of California-Santa Cruz, Kim served in the Peace Corps in Phokoane, South Africa, north of Johannesburg, on HIV/AIDS awareness and community development. She then completed an M.A. in Public Diplomacy and International Affairs at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Boston - and in 2003 enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Michigan State.

In 2005, she completed all requirements of the Ph.D. in Sociology except for her dissertation -- completing her comprehensive exams faster than any of my graduate students that I can remember. After receiving several Title VI African Language and Area Studies Fellowships and reaching advanced proficiency in Hausa language, in a national competition in 2005 she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2006, the U.S. National Science Foundation granted her a Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Award in Sociology.

Since January 2006, Kim has been living in Kano, Nigeria where she was consulting with faculty at Bayero University and conducting field research on "Decentralization and Representation in Nigerian Local Government: Bridging Ethnic, Religious, and Gender Cleavages in Kaduna, Nigeria," a topic she had developed at MSU from her extended travels in West Africa in 2004-05.

In Accra, visiting on holiday, Kim was riding a "passenger lorry" near the center of the city. The driver swerved to avoid a vendor's pushcart in the road, and the vehicle flipped over. The vendor was hit and killed, and Kim also died immediately. Several other passengers were badly injured, and she and they were rushed to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the premier national referral hospital in Ghana.

The funeral or memorial service for Kim will be held in San Diego, CA where her family lives at a date yet to be determined. Another memorial probably will be planned at MSU early in the fall semester.

Our hearts go out to Kim's family and all who knew this very intelligent, creative, venturesome, courageous, and industrious woman. She was one of the good people, making many contributions to the human community during her too few years among us. We have been enriched by Kim's presence, and we are lessened by her absence. We shall miss her very much and hold dearly to our memories of her.

If you wish to send condolences to the family, you can reach them at: Kim's brother, "Kenneth Perez"
<atzin@earthlink.net>, cell: 619-261-0411. With sadness,

David Wiley
Academic Advisor to Kim Perez
Department of Sociology and African Studies Center

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: August, 2006; Peace Corps South Africa; Directory of South Africa RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for South Africa RPCVs; Peace Corps Ghana; Directory of Ghana RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ghana RPCVs; Obituaries; Sociology

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