On display in Special Collections from January 15 to May 15 is an exhibit titled, Observing Africa: The Life and Career of Stuart Marks. 

Stuart Marks is a biologist and anthropologist whose work has focused on wildlife management, conservation and human development in Africa. Marks was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1939 and spent most of his youth living in the Belgian Congo at the American Presbyterian Congo Mission station, Lubondai. After completing his undergraduate degree in Zoology from North Carolina State University, Marks earned a Masters in Wildlife and Quantitative Methods and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Anthropology from Michigan State University. Marks' dissertational work in Zambia with the Valley Bisa culture has been the basis for much of his personal and professional research. His distinguished career includes work as a professor, scholar, independent researcher and consultant in the United States and Africa. He has received numerous honors and has been the recipient of research grants from institutions such as the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Geographic Society and the Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellowship program. Marks has authored eight books, written chapters for nineteen publications, published eighty-two articles in professional journals and acted as consultant to fourteen major studies. 

Drawing from items held in the Stuart Alexander and Sandy Cole Marks manuscript collection archived in Randall Library Special Collections, this exhibit highlights Marks' life from childhood to present day, spanning numerous countries and careers. Items on display include artifacts, books, correspondence, elephant tusks, field notes, mammalian crania, maps, newspaper articles, photographs, postcards and stamps.

Also take a peak at the newly created Stuart Marks digital collection, documenting numerous photographs digitized from the manuscript collection. 

Special Collections in located on the second floor of Randall Library. We are open Monday through Thursday 9-5 and Friday 9-12.