We wish to pay tribute, in memoriam, to our good friend and esteemed colleague Bernardo Gallegos, founder of the Brill Sense book series Education, Culture, and Society. His vision for this series was to publish books that “engage the complex and dynamic relationship between education, culture, and society in historical, contemporary, and futural contexts.”
Bernardo was excited about this series and launching it with Carol A. Mullen’s new book Revealing Creativity: Exploration in Transnational Education Cultures.
Bernardo, who was much-loved, is someone we’ll always miss. We remember him as kind, thoughtful, and wise with a great sense of humor.
This world is better because of him. Knowing him was to feel intellectually and spiritually enriched.
Bernardo was Professor of Educational Foundations, Teacher Education, and Indigenous Educational History at National University, Los Angeles Campus, in the Teacher Education Department within the Sanford College of Education. He held a distinguished professorship at Washington State University, and his PhD was awarded from the University of New Mexico in 1988.
He would openly share his cultural identity. Born and raised in the South and North Valleys of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he was of mixed Native American, Spanish, and African ancestry. Besides Albuquerque, he lived in Durango, Colorado, Cuba, New Mexico, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Los Angeles, Washington, and Chicago. He acknowledged feeling blessed with a great family, friends, and colleagues. Bernardo, deeply appreciative, also gave thanks for being able to live in a place where he could watch the sunset over the Pacific.
A brilliant and important writer, Bernardo published widely in the history of education, cultural studies in education, Indigenous and Latino educational/cultural history, and performance studies in education. His books, edited volumes, and guest editorships, often with others, include the Postcolonial Indigenous Performances (Sense Publishers, 2017); Handbook of Research in the Social Foundations of Education (Routledge, 2010); Performance Theories and Education (Routledge, 2004); Indigenous Education in the Americas (Routledge, 2003); and Literacy, and Education, and Society in Colonial New Mexico, 1693 to 1821 (University of New Mexico Press, 1992).
Bernardo served as President of the Society of Professors of Education, the American Educational Studies Association, and the Organization of Educational Historians. Within his extensive and deep networks, he mentored and befriended many of us.