In 1969, Arvarh E. Strickland became the first tenured African American faculty member at the University of Missouri when he joined the History Department. He later served as Department Chair, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs for the University of Missouri System, and Special Assistant to the University Chancellor. He was also instrumental in the development of the Black Studies Program at MU, twice serving as Program Director. He was a popular teacher who worked to encourage the recruitment of more black faculty, staff, administrators, and students. After his retirement in 1996, his students, colleagues, friends, and family raised money to endow a Professorship in African American History and Black Studies that would honor his legacy. The first Strickland Professor, Dr. Wilma King, was appointed in 1999.

Obituaries

• “https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/arvarh-e-strickland-1930-2013-november-2013/” by John L. Bullion, Perspectives on History (Nov. 2013). 
• “https://www.stlamerican.com/news/obituaries/arvarh-strickland-passes-at-82/” by American Staff, The St. Louis American, May 9, 2013.
• “Arvarh Strickland Was a Force for Change at MU and in Columbia,” by Jacob Kirn, Columbia Missourian, May 2, 2013. 
• “First Black Professor at Mizzou Dies at 82,” by Michael D. Sorkin, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 1, 2013.