SCMS maintains this page to honor the memory of those members, colleagues, and friends who have recently passed away and to recognize the invaluable contributions they made to the organization, cinema and media studies, and the wider world.
From more tributes to past colleagues, please visit and subscribe to the In Memoriam blog.
To inform SCMS about a member's death or to propose a tribute for inclusion on this page, please email the SCMS office at office@scmstudies.org.
Donald Staples
(1934 - 2026)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Teresa de Lauretis
(1938 - 2026)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Marsha Kinder
(1940 - 2025)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Graeme Turner
(1947 - 2025)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Jill Godmilow
(1943 - 2025)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Lauren Rabinovitz
(1950 - 2025)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Ina Rae Hark
(1949 - 2025)
See a tribute in the In Memoriam blog.
Barbara Hall
(1961 - 2025)
See a tribute from Mary Desjardins in the In Memoriam blog.
Robert W. McChesney
(1952 - 2025)
See a Obituary from The Nation here
See Obituary from the FreePress.net here
Jonathan Sterne
(1968 - 2025)
See a tribute from Duke University Press here
Virginia Wright Wexman
(1941 - 2025)
Watch the Fieldnotes interview here.
Watch her Past President interview here.
Linda Williams
(1946 - 2025)
Watch the Fieldnotes interview here.
Watch the DCAA speech from 2013 here.
Mark Duffett
(1969 - 2025)
Read more about Mark Duffett here.
Paul Ramaeker
(1968 - 2025)
Read more about Paul Ramaeker here.
Ted Perry
(1937 - 2024)
Read more about Ted Perry here and watch his Fieldnotes interview here.
Lourdes Portillo
(1943 - 2024)
Ned Comstock
(1957 - 2024)
Read Lukas Kendall's tribute here as well as Bill Whittington here to learn more about Ned's
life and work.
David Bordwell
(1947 - 2024)
Read Colin Burnett's article about the importance of David Bordwell's work here and watch his Fieldnotes interview here.
Clyde Taylor
(1931 - 2024)
See his Fieldnotes interview here and his American Masters interview on PBS here. Read more about Clyde Taylor's
life and work here.
Sean O'Sullivan
(1965 - 2023)
SCMS is saddened by the passing of Sean O'Sullivan. Read more about his life and work here.
Maggie Rossman
(1984 - 2023)
Read more about Maggie Rossman's life and work here and here.
Pearl Bowser
(1931 - 2023)
Read more about Pearl Bowser's life and work here.
Alan Williams
(1947 - 2023)
Click here to read a t ribute to Alan Williams by Colleen Kennedy-Karpat. A tribute by Rutger is available here.
Kristine Krueger
(195 4 - 2023)
Read more about Kristine Krueger's life and work in this tribute by Anne Coco, Tamar Jeffers McDonald, and Lea Whittington.
Ana López
(1956 - 2023)
It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that SCMS mourns the passing of esteemed scholar and mentor, Ana López. For more about her life and work read this tribute by Dolores Tierney and Laura Podalsky.
Christopher Smith
(1968 - 2023)
To read more about Christopher Smith and his work please see this tribute by USC Annenberg.
Albert LaValley
(1935 - 2023)
Read more about Albert LaValley and his work in this tributeby Joanna Rapf.
Robert Eberwein
(1940 - 2022)
Read more about Robert Eberwein's life and his work in this tribute by Chris Holmlund, with Peter Lehman and Bill Luhr.
Liz Powell
(1986 - 2022)
To read more about Liz Powell and her work please see this tribute by Helen Warner.
Ella Turenne
(1974 - 2021)
Please click here to read Ella Turenne's university's remembrance by UC Irvine and here to read
the one written by the Inside-Out Center.
bell hooks
(1952 - 2021)
Read more about bell hooks' life and work here.
Steve Neale
(1950 - 2021)
Steve Neale-critic, theorist and historian of cinema. Read more about his work here.
Lauren Berlant
(1957 - 2021)
To read more about Lauren Berlant's work, please see this article by the New Yorker.
Lesley Stern
(1950 - 2021)
A touching tribute to Lesley Stern, a long-time member of SCMS, written by Tracy Cox-Stanton is available here.
Jane Feuer
(1951 - 2021)
A touching tribute to Jane Feuer by Mimi White and Matthew Tinkcom is available here.
Stephen Prince
(1955 - 2020)
Past President, Stephen Prince, will be greatly missed by family, friends, and colleagues. Carl Plantinga and Malcolm Turvey offer this tribute.
Jackie Byars
(1951 - 2020)
Read more about Jackie Byars' life and work here and here.
Jonathan Kahana
(1966 - 2019)
SCMS has been enriched by Jonathan Kahana's contributions, and we are deeply saddened by his loss.
To read Dana Polan's lovely tribute, please click here.
Eileen Bowser
(1928 - 2019)
Read more about Eileen Bowser's life and work here.
Paul Spehr
(1938 - 2019)
Click here and here to read more about Paul Spehr's life and work.
Brian Taves
(1959 - 2019)
Click here to read more about Brian Taves' life and work.
Peter Wollen
(1938 - 2019)
Read more about Peter Wollen here. Peter Wollen was of the leading scholars in Cinema and Media Studies. We send our condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and students.
Thomas Elsaesser
(1943 - 2019)
Read more about Thomas Elsaesser, recipient of the Distinguished Career Award in 2008, here.
Listen to his Fieldnotes interview here. Transcript available here.
Edward Branigan
(1945 - 2019)
Read more about Edward Branigan's life and his work here.
Hannah Frank
(1984 - 2017)
Hannah Frank's mentor, Tom Gunning, offers this tribute.
