Deil Spencer Wright, Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, passed away on June 30 2009, at the age of 79. Born on June 18, 1930, in Three Rivers, Michigan, to working-class parents, Deil received his BA, MPA, and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He spent time on the faculties of Wayne State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of California at Berkeley before landing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the bulk of his career.