Hello Highline Community,
We have learned that a former Highline faculty member Dr. Emmanuel M. Chiabi passed away on March 15, 2023 in Bamenda, Cameroon. He was 76 years old.
On behalf of Highline College, we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and former co-workers.
Dr. Chiabi taught African studies, political science, history and anthropology at Highline from 1997 until his retirement in 2016. He became tenured in February 2002 and was an active member of the social sciences department. Often participating in History Seminars, Dr. Chiabi was passionate about educating students and helping shape young lives around the world.
A true asset to Highline College and the students he taught and helped, Dr. Chiabi’s family describes him as very giving and humble, and thought of others before he thought of himself. This was evident in his many trips to Cameroon, even leading a faculty trip to Africa to meet and gift school supplies to students while he was at Highline. His time at Highline has helped create the college we know and love today.
At the time of his passing, Dr. Chiabi was in the middle of opening a library in his village located in Bamenda, Cameroon, where he resided with his wife. According to reports, Dr. Chiabi was also the pioneer president of Afoakom USA, a nonprofit cultural and development association of the Kom people in the United States of America that initiates or supports ideas, projects and programs for the betterment of Komrades, particularly in the homestead in Kom.
Dr. Chiabi grew up in northwest Cameroon among the Kom people in Cameroon and lived in several places, including Florida, Pennsylvania, California, Washington, and Cameroon.
Dr. Chiabi earned his PhD in African history and political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he and former Highline College President Dr. Jack Bermingham shared time together. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science and anthropology from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon.
Before teaching at Highline College, Dr. Chiabi taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USC), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Yaounde. He was also the travel grant president at the American Historical Association.
As part of the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program, Dr. Chiabi held a research grant as a senior lecturer from the University of Yaounde, teaching history at the University of Florida from 1993-1994. He would go on to teach and do research through his second Fulbright grant at Catholic University of Cameroon in 2013-14 and later in Japan and Los Angeles at Viola College.
In 1997, Dr. Chiabi published “The Making of Modern Cameroon: A History of Substate Nationalism and Disparate Union, 1914-1961.”
A devout Christian, Dr. Chiabi is survived by his wife Emma Yoti Chiabi, children Gerald Kimbi Chiabi, Valentine N. Chiabi, Clemente Luna Chiabi, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Out of respect and privacy for his family, details of his death will not be shared.
A wake will be held at the Bamenda Compound in Cameroon on April 7 followed by his funeral on April 8. Condolences may be sent to Gerald and Stephanie Chiabi at 200 Woodbury Drive, Sterrett, AL 35147. The family is also accepting donations through Paypal paypal.me/geraldchiabi and Cash App $StephanieAChiabi.
John R. Mosby, Ph.D. (he, him)
President
Highline College