I was fortunate enough to have worked with Professor Mack in the W. Montague Cobb Laboratory and on the Walter C. Pierce Community Park Project. In life he championed for community-driven research and the proper treatment of African American ancestral remains. As an instructor and curator of the Cobb Lab since 1993, Mack trained a number of future anthropologists, medical doctors, and dentists. He was steeped in a long tradition of scholars who gave themselves entirely to their teaching and family. Caring little for coveted degrees and honorary titles, he sacrificed his time and commitment away from his own PhD research to focus on teaching and community outreach. With a teaching career that spanned more than two decades, his classes and teaching methods were known for their intensity and rigor. He demanded the most from his students - at times dismissing the entire class when it was evident we had not committed ourselves to same level of academic conviction. Mack's passing is a realization of the evermore pressing need for us to continue to be diligent and dedicated in our scholarship. I am proud to say that for me, and many other students, Mack was much more than an instructor. He was a mentor, friend, and the closest person I had to a father figure while still an undergraduate at Howard University. He personally reached into his pockets when financial difficulties befell me and my family and fostered my early intellectual growth as a young African American archaeologist. He was one of the few instructors students respected for his commitment to education as well as the devotion he showed to his family. You couldn't go through a semester in his class without hearing about his admiration for his wife Cindy, daughter Amirah, and nephew Kai. He instilled in us a dedication to thorough, ethical research and constantly reminded us that research is a selfless endeavor that should honor those who came before us and speak relevancy to the beautiful ones not yet born. While I am sad to have lost a mentor and friend, I am glad to know that we have gained an ancestor. May his life and legacy shine through in all that we do. With undying gratitude, Justin Dunnavant