Robert L. Hampton ’70

 Bob, a lifelong and honored scholar of and advocate for the Black community, died of a lung infection related to ALS and Alzheimer’s disease in Tennessee Oct. 19, 2023.

Born and raised in Michigan City, Ind., Bob was a proud Hoosier. During his years at Elston High School, he was part of the basketball team that won the state championship and was senior class president. While at Princeton, he majored in sociology and wrote his thesis on “The Process of Education in Street Academies.” He belonged to Terrace Club, the Association of Black Collegians (ABC), Whig-Clio, and the Army ROTC. In the Army Reserve, he served for 25 years, retiring as an Armor branch lieutenant colonel in the 76th Division.

Bob was a professor of sociology and social work and former provost at Tennessee State University. Prior to moving to Tennessee, he worked at York College, University of Maryland at College Park, and Connecticut College as a professor of sociology and senior administrator, as well as a medical research associate at Harvard. He published extensively in the field of family violence, including several edited books, and was a founding member of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community at the University of Minnesota.

Bob is survived by his first wife, Cathy, and their children: Robyn ’93 and Conrad. From his second marriage, Bob leaves behind his wife, Ana, and daughter Isabella. With them, we remember him with pride as a singular example of Princeton in the nation’s service.