UFF members and their families are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Hernán Vera, Professor Emeritus of Sociology. Professor Vera was a prolific scholar on a range of topics, including race and ethnic relations and sociology of knowledge. Vera joined UFF-UF upon its founding in 1976. A UFF activist in a variety of roles, including as its chapter president, he fought to foster academic freedom and end discriminatory practices at the University of Florida.

A native of Chile, Dr. Vera received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Kansas in 1974. His co-authored books included, Liberation Sociology, White Racism: The Basics, Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness, The Agony of Education: Black Students at a White University, and Handbook of the Sociology of Racial and Ethnic Relations. Hernán was also a very active affiliate faculty member of the Center for Latin American Studies.

In 2009, The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program interviewed Dr. Vera.  Read more about his career and his union activism here.