KANYE & MRS. WEST AT A BOOK SIGNING BACK IN JUNE 2007 // PHOTO: WIRE IMAGE

Donda West, the mother of Kanye West and former chairwoman of Chicago State University’s English department, passed away Saturday from undisclosed causes, according to a spokesman for the family. She was 58. According to multiple sources, West was in Los Angeles and her death may have been the result of complications from a surgical procedure; more specific information was unavailable at press time. Although widely known as the mother of Kanye, Dr. West was a noted scholar and an active college professor for 31 years; she left the profession in 2004 to assist with Kanye’s career, according to her biography on the Web site of the Kanye West Foundation, an educational nonprofit of which she was chair. She was also chief executive of West Brands, the parent company of her son’s businesses. She began her teaching career in the early 1970s at Brown College in Atlanta and began working at Chicago State University in 1980, according to the site; she was also a Fulbright Scholar, among other awards. Dr. West raised Kanye in the Chicago area along with her husband, from whom she separated when Kanye was 3. CONTINUE READING