Obituaries | featured news

A leader in African-American studies and a follower of W.E.B. Du Bois, he was the university’s first tenured black professor and a mentor to many.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he had a knack for knowing where a play was going and made one of the most famous tackles in N.F.L. history.

She favored bold geometric forms, especially in works inspired by urban construction and demolition in New York City.

As its managing director, he inherited a dispirited International Monetary Fund in 1973 but revived it, in part by tapping into a surge of oil wealth.

He was best known for directing the 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood,” a coming-of-age story set in South Central Los Angeles.

His first film, which he began shooting when he was in his early 20s, earned an Oscar nomination for best director — the first for an African-American.

She married the composer Frank Loesser and stopped performing after starring in his “Most Happy Fella.” Resuming her career after he died, she emphasized his music.

His first film, which he began shooting when he was in his early 20s, earned an Oscar nomination for best director — the first for an African-American.

His most notable accomplishment: helping to create a program to destroy surplus stocks of nuclear weapons around the world.

A Persian sculptor, she was known for abstract compositions of mirrors and glass. In her 10th decade she received a Guggenheim retrospective.