My father, Lou Kushnick, who has died aged 86, was a lecturer and a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester with a particular interest in race relations.
In the 1970s he set up a third-year degree module entitled “race and class in the US”, a course that was taken by the black activist Olive Morris. He was vice-chair of the Institute of Race Relations for 20 years from 1978, and a regular contributor to its journal, Race & Class, as well as an editor of the academic publication Sage Race Relations Abstracts.
In 1996 he founded the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah race relations resource centre in Manchester, named after a schoolboy who had been killed in a racist attack at the city’s Burnage high school 10 years earlier. It holds a collection of books and other material about race relations that Lou had gathered since the 1960s.
Towards the end of his career he was awarded an honorary professorial fellowship in race relations at Manchester University.
Lou was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Alex, was a manager at the Ceil Chapman dress company, and his mother, Evelyn (nee Levin), was a taxi dispatcher. After attending Manual Training high school (now John Jay high school), he gained a degree in sociology from Columbia University in New York before undertaking a PhD in political science at Yale University.
In 1961 he married Pat Fiske, a teacher, and two years later they moved to the UK so that Lou could take advantage of a scholarship to Manchester University. The idea was to stay for a year, but they both fell in love with the city and its people, and never left.
Fortunately for Lou, the university had recently set up an American studies course, and he accepted an offer to become a lecturer in the subject in 1964. He was happy at the turn of events, and for the university it was quite a coup to secure a genuine American to teach the subject – and one with a broad Brooklyn accent, to boot. He stood out in 70s suburban Manchester, with his long hair and beard, driving an original VW campervan and bearing a passing resemblance to Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead guitarist.
Lou remained in his post for 30 years, later as a senior lecturer, until in 1996 the American Studies department was amalgamated with English and he moved to the department of sociology, staying there until his retirement in 2007.
After leaving the university he continued his involvement with the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah race relations resource centre, staying on as its director until his death.
A lover of food and wine, he often travelled to France for culinary reasons on a regular basis. He also entertained friends with his great cooking, wonderful vintages and even better stories.
Lou is survived by Pat, me and a granddaughter, Lexi.
