Oakland: Suspect charged in hit and run death of world famous sociologist

OAKLAND — Alameda County prosecutors have charged the man suspected of running over and killing Michael Burawoy, the famous sociologist and retired UC Berkeley professor, court records show.

Kermith Miller, 62, of Oakland, was charged with a felony count of leaving the scene of an accident and a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter. He hasn’t yet entered a plea, court records show. The charges were filed on Thursday.

Burawoy, 77, was struck and killed around 7 p.m. last Feb. 3, as he grossed the street in a crosswalk near Grand Avenue and Park Avenue in Oakland. Prosecutors allege that Burawoy drove off and that he later confessed to police, but claimed he didn’t know he hit someone.

Police who reviewed the crash footage said in court records it should have been “obvious” to the driver that there was a serious collision involving a person. The car, allegedly owned my Miller’s wife, had significant front-end damage and a broken windshield, according to court records.

Miller was arrested and released last February, court records show.

Burawoy was widely considered to be one of the world’s most influential Marxist sociologists. He authored or co-authored more than a dozen books and published hundreds of academic papers, but was perhaps best known for an ethnography entitled, “Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process Under Monopoly Capitalism.”

He retired in 2023 from Cal after 47 years of teaching and remained a professor emeritus. He arrived at the campus in 1976 and was at various points the president of the American Sociological Association and International Sociological Association.

UC Berkeley’s sociology department received a $100,000 gift in 2023 to establish an endowment in Burawoy’s honor.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *