Dr. Carroy Ugene Feguson ‘68 died on September 20, 2026, in Medford, Massachusetts.
Dr. Carroy U. (“Cuf”) Ferguson ’68
(The following was provided by family on Septmber 20, 2026:)
Dr. Carroy Ugene Ferguson believed deeply in the phenomenon coined: SYNCHRONICITY.
Known professionally as Dr. Carroy “Cuf” Ferguson, and lovingly to his family as Roy Gene, he devoted his life to exploring the evolution of human consciousness and the interconnectedness of the human experience. Many don’t know this but his beloved nickname was simply his initials C.U.F.
Psychologist, professor, author, clinician, administrator, humanist, spiritual thinker, father, and bridge-builder, he believed that each person enters the world carrying unique gifts and an invitation to participate consciously in humanity’s continuing transformation. His own life became an extraordinary expression of that belief.
Born June 22, 1946, to Rev. Daniel Murdock Ferguson, Sr. and Mrs. Inez Ford Ferguson Bowman, Cuf demonstrated leadership, determination, and an ability to shape the world around him early. As a teenager, he served his beloved Ridgewood Missionary Baptist Church as Sunday School superintendent (unheard of at that age). Breaking barriers he became the first black milk man in Columbia, SC. His academic gifts were equally evident. At C. A. Johnson High School, he was inducted into the National Honor Society and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1964. A full scholarship carried him from South Carolina to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he earned his undergraduate degree in psychology with honors. There, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, he began living what he would later describe as “the path of the bridger.” When he was invited to join Sigma Nu Fraternity, a discriminatory provision within the national organization stood in the way. Carroy and his fraternity brothers challenged that barrier, and he became the first African American nationally to desegregate Sigma Nu.
He continued his education at Boston College, earning his Master’s and PhD degrees in psychology. As a licensed clinician, he incorporated both traditional psychological practice and approaches such as guided hypnotherapy into his work. He lectured throughout the United States and internationally, including, but not limited to presentations in London and Belgium, contributing to conversations in humanistic and transpersonal psychology. In 1979, he joined the faculty of UMass Boston, beginning a distinguished career spanning more than four decades. He became a tenured full professor, served as a dean of the College of Public and Community Service, directed the Human Services Program, and mentored generations of students, colleagues and emerging scholars. In 2006, he became the first African American and first person of color elected president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, ultimately serving multiple terms.
He authored and contributed to numerous books and publications, including Evolving the Human Race Game: A Spiritual and Soul-Centered Perspective, A New Perspective on Race and Color, Transitions in Consciousness from an African American Perspective, and Innovative Approaches to Education and Community Service. His family has vowed to finish the book on synchronicity that he was working on when he passed.
The collection of titles bestowed upon him could never describe the depth of existence within him. Dr. Ferguson’s work existed at the intersection of psychology, spirituality, race, culture, human potential, and the evolution of consciousness. His central questions were both scholarly and deeply personal: Who are we becoming? What wounds and stories have we inherited? What might we release? And how can greater consciousness allow us to create a more humane world?
Dr. Ferguson (CUF) did not merely study those questions. He lived them. As a black belt practitioner of Tai Chi, he understood the wisdom of energy and intention. His civic commitments remained rooted in the African American consciousness perspective in which he lived. He was instrumental in planning and launching Boston’s inaugural city-wide celebration honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and during Black History Month, he regularly gave voice to the writings of Frederick Douglass during annual celebrations at UMass Boston.
For him, life pursuits were never separate.
The psychologist, professor, civil-rights advocate, spiritual thinker, clinician, author, community servant, and family member were all expressions of one calling: to BRIDGE. And beyond every professional accomplishment, he was what was most important to him: a dad, granddad, brother, uncle, cousin, mentor and friend.
At the center of his heart was his only child, his beloved daughter and life muse, Carenna Evelyn Ferguson. His granddaughter, Maya Reppert, was the apple of his eye and a source of immeasurable joy and pride. He talked about them to everyone he knew. Cuf had the unmeasurable ability to love unconditionally, and even through the dissolution of his first marriage, he was able to create a beautiful extended family experience for his daughter where every holiday, birthday, and special occasion included his ex-wife, Lauri, her husband, Peter, their daughter, Wendy, and in more recent years her two children, Jack and Birdie, who called him Grandpa Cuf. Family was everything to him and he created his own beautifully unique version.
He was preceded in transition by his parents, Rev. Daniel Murdock Ferguson, Sr. and Mrs. Inez Ford Ferguson Bowman, three brothers and three sisters.
He leaves behind to cherish his life and continue his unfolding legacy his daughter, Carenna Ferguson, and her husband, Austin Jackson; granddaughter, Maya Reppert; brother, Daniel Ferguson, Jr., and his wife, Frances; sisters Rene Ferguson Moody and Sara Ferguson Smith; a special niece, Rev. Dr. Lei Ferguson Washington, and her husband, Daryl, and their children Nik and Jaleah; a special nephew, Daniel Butler Ferguson; more than thirty nieces and nephews; and a vast constellation of grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, students, colleagues, friends, and fellow seekers whose lives intersected meaningfully with his own.
Perhaps Cuf would remind us that his life’s intersections were never entirely accidental.
The synchronicities accumulated until, viewed together, they became a life. A remarkable, beautiful life. A life spent loving unconditionally, awakening possibility, building bridges and inviting humanity to see itself more fully.