Dear Colleagues,

I share with you sad news from Associate Vice Chancellor & Professor Chia Youyee Vang.

Gwaub Thao, a former lecturer initially in Foreign Languages and Linguistics and later in the curricular area Hmong Studies/Ethnic Studies, passed away recently.  Beginning at UWM in 2005, Mr. Thao taught Hmong literacy at UWM for more than a decade.  He taught the Hmong language, and, in addition, translated dialects, created materials for literacy courses, and developed Hmong language assessment tools.  He was a leader in efforts to preserve Hmong language and culture.

His obituary is online.  The funeral service will take place this weekend (December 2-3) at Church and Chapel Funeral Home, 6709 W. Capitol Drive, in Milwaukee. As is common of Hmong funerals, the service will take place over the entire weekend. The hours on Saturday and Sunday are from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Friends and colleagues can stop by any time.

Our condolences to Gwaub’s family and to the many others whose lives he touched.

Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs