In Memoriam: Mae Coates King, 1938-2022

Mae King, professor emerita of political science at Howard University in Washington, D.C., died on November 4. She was 84 years old.

A native of Arkansas, Dr. King was a soldier in the civil rights movement, while a student at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas. She went to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Idaho.

Dr. King was the first African American senior staff associate of the American Political Science Association. She was a founding member of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and a former president of the International Association of Black Professionals in International Affairs. She also served as vice president of the African Heritage Studies Association.

In 1975, Dr. King moved to Africa and served as an associate professor of political science for 14 years at the University of Benin. In 1989, she returned to the United States and joined the faculty at Howard University. She taught there until 2017.

Dr. King’s research and teaching areas included African politics, international relations, and African American women in politics. She was the author of Basic Currents of Nigerian Foreign Policy (Howard University Press, 1996).