Thomas W. Walker ’63

Thomas W. Walker ’63, of Millfield, Ohio; May 2. After Brown, he joined the Peace Corps and served in Colombia. For six months he worked in Alaska, writing proposals for Native Housing initiatives in rural communities, and then enrolled at the University of New Mexico to earn his master’s degree and met and married his wife. In 1972, he began teaching at Ohio University. He wrote and published many works on Nicaragua and Central America. During the 1980s and ’90s he traveled extensively, lecturing at universities and colleges from coast to coast about the Sandinista Revolution and United States foreign policy towards the region. He served as director of the Latin American Studies program at Ohio University for many years. In 1995, he became involved in the Athens Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and was an advocate for people living with mental illness. He hosted a series of interviews on the local public radio station that was eventually changed to a podcast, speaking with advocates and experts about living with severe mental illness. He had worked alongside NAMI volunteers to restore cemeteries and build a trail and nature walk connecting three cemeteries.He was also involved in crisis intervention training for mental health in the community. In 1978, he and his wife bought a small farm and he was able to fulfill his dream of having and raising animals. He is survived by his wife, Anne; four children; three grandchildren; and a sister.