The death of renowned Gambian scholar and academic, Dr Lamin Sanneh, has been announced by his employer, Yale University. Dr Sanneh who suffered a stroke died on Sunday, January 6 surrounded by his family.

In a statement released by Dean Sterling of Yale University ” Dear colleagues and friends, I am writing to inform you of the sudden and unexpected death of Dr Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School. Many of us were with Lamin just before the Christmas break when he was anticipating the arrival of his family and the celebration of Christmas. An announcement like this seemed unimaginable; however, Lamin suffered a stroke and died on Sunday, January 6th, surrounded by his family. I know that many of you will receive this news as I did—with shock.”

Lamin was born on MacCarthy Island in the River Gambia. A descendent of an ancient African royal family, he grew up as a Muslim but converted to Christianity.

He was educated and taught on four different continents. He earned graduate degrees from the University of Birmingham, England (M.A.), and the University of London (Ph.D.). He received honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh and Liverpool Hope University.

His major faculty appointments were at the University of Ghana (1975-1978), the University of Aberdeen (1978-1981), Harvard University (1981-1989), and finally Yale (1989-2019). He had a lifetime appointment at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge (1996-2019), and was an Honorary Professional Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1997-2019).

He also had temporary appointments at the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christianity, Ibadan, Nigeria (1969-1971); Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, Freetown (1974-1975); San Francisco Theological Seminary (summer of 1987); and the Library of Congress, where he was the John W. Kluge Chair in the Countries and Cultures of the South (2004-2005).

Lamin took a long and circuitous route from The Gambia to Yale University, but he traveled with international distinction.

He is survived by his wife Sandra, daughter Sia, and their son Kelefa, a writer at The New Yorker.