Patricia R. Pessar, adjunct professor of anthropology, American studies, and African American studies at Yale University, and a respected scholar on immigration issues, died earlier this month in New Haven after a long battle with cancer. She was 63 years old.
She began teaching at Yale in 1993. Previously, she taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Georgetown University, and Florida International University.
Dr. Pessar, who earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, is survived by her husband Gilbert M. Joseph, the Farnam Professor of History and International Studies at Yale. Together, the couple taught a graduate level seminar on Latin American social movements.