Nellie McKay, a University of Wisconsin professor of African-American literature, died Sunday at the age of 67 after a battle with liver cancer.

A member of the university faculty since 1978, McKay helped establish the African-American literature program within the UW Afro-American studies department.

McKay was the first professor of African-American literature at UW.

"She built the [African-American] literary curriculum program here from nothing," Craig Werner, chair of the Afro-American studies department, said. "Under her guidance, it became a part of a small handful of the best programs in the country."

Along with her work at UW, McKay was a co-editor of the 1988 "Norton Anthology of African-American Literature," which Werner called the "African-American canon of books and authors that matter."

"It will continue to shape the discipline here, at Harvard, Yale and everywhere for the next 25 years," Werner said.

During her career, McKay published numerous books and essays on notable African-American writers, including Harriet Jacobs and Zora Neale Hurston.

According to a UW release, at the time of her death, McKay was in the process of completing an interpretative history of African-American literature. McKay won four teaching awards for her work, and also earned an honorary degree from the University of Michigan.

"She taught me an incredible amount," Werner said, adding he will remember her most for the close relationships she built with her students and colleagues.

McKay's passing has already impacted students across the UW campus.

"Whenever there is a professor who did as much for the Afro-American department and greater campus community, their contributions will be missed," Bradinn French, Multicultural Student Center spokesperson and UW junior, said.

French added McKay helped "draw" people into the Afro-American studies department and into the university as a whole.

Both French and Werner said the African-American literature program would continue, using McKay's example as a model.

"[McKay] built the department solidly enough, it's not dependent on one person," Werner said. "But, the halls will feel different."

Werner described McKay as an "amazing" professor who cared for her students above all else.

"We shared a belief that the student mattered more than anything," Werner said. "Her door was always open and she was always focused on her students."

Werner said a "celebration of McKay's" life would happen later in the semester, though no details have been planned.