In Memoriam - Bil Banks 1943-2025

William M. Banks, III

September 22, 1943 - July 30, 2025

William M. Banks, III (affectionately known as ‘Bil’) was born in Thomasville, Georgia, to Bill and Hattie Banks on September 22, 1943. He passed away at his home in Oakland, California on July 30, 2025.

His father, William Banks II, born in Mississippi, won a sports scholarship to Dillard University, from which he graduated in the 1930s, later earning a PhD and becoming a professor at Fort Valley State College. His mother was a schoolteacher and later a full-time home maker. Bil was their only child.

Bil Banks liked to say that he was “just a kid from Georgia,” who lived his life in the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and advancement of the “needs and aspirations of the Black community.” 

Bil earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Dillard University, New Orleans, and his PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Kentucky, in 1967.

He began his professional career at Howard University where he worked in Counseling and Psychological Services. His first academic publications were on psychology and counseling issues with Black students and advisors.

Bil found his permanent academic home on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, arriving there in 1970. He began as a lecturer in the Afro American Studies Program, as it was known then, which was part of the Third World College, which had been created in response to the Third World Liberation Front Strike of 1969. Then he became an assistant professor. He was the first ladder rank faculty member of the Program and then became Director of the Program. He rose rapidly to serve as the first Chair of the African American Studies Department after guiding it from a program to full department status.

He spent his career teaching and writing about social change in America, with a special emphasis on exploring the role of Black intellectuals.

His most important publication is the book Black Intellectuals, Race and Responsibility in American Life,” published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1996 with a foreword by one of America’s most esteemed historians, John Hope Franklin. In that book, Bil undertook an insightful analysis of the myriad obstacles confronting Black scholars in contemporary America, and over the last 200 years.

At UC Berkeley, Bil taught several undergraduate courses, including Black Life and Culture in the United States, The Black Male in American Culture, Jews and Blacks: Convergence and Divergence in American Society, and The Social World of the Jazz Musician. His course Black Life and Culture in the United States was a ‘gateway’ course that he taught over several decades. It was immensely popular for his engaging lecturing, his pedagogy and his style of presentation.

Bil mentored countless students at Berkeley and provided decades of insightful service to the department and the university.  He was also an important mentor to junior professors in the Department of African American Studies and to many junior professors in other departments. 

While at Berkeley, he held several senior administrative positions, including Faculty Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs, Dean of Educational Development, and Acting Provost for Undergraduate Affairs.

After retiring from the campus in 2004 and becoming Professor Emeritus, he occasionally taught a seminar for first-year students and also continued his active affiliation with the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and his advocacy for Black students.

He enjoyed political discourse, down-to-earth people, and ‘talking trash,’ and he loved jazz music. In addition to having a tremendous jazz collection and extensive knowledge of jazz, he taught an undergraduate course on jazz music.  He deeply believed that jazz, as much as literature, was one of African America’s most distinctive contribution.

Bil loved his family and spent a great deal of time with family members and with his children and grandchildren in particular. He leaves behind four children: David Troy Banks of New Orleans, Louisiana; Tracey Banks of Durham, North Carolina; Trey Mullany Banks of Tacoma, Washington; and Shane Banks-Hagos (Awet) of Tacoma, Washington; four grandchildren: Ellis Coan, Danielle Coan, Arrow Banks-Hagos, and Tedros Banks-Hagos; several close cousins; and a host of friends, colleagues, and extended family. 

A memorial celebration of his life and legacy was held at the University of California, Berkeley Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA at 1:00pm on October 24, 2025.