The late Professor Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage was a vibrant/distinguished UDASA member and a leader who strongly believed and consistently fought for the academic freedom of African intellectuals.

He was first elected as a chairperson of UDASA in 1997-1998 then later in 2003 until his death in 2006. He had also served UDASA in several other capacities for many years, including as acting UDASA chairperson (1996-1997), editor of the UDASA newsletter (1991-1994), UDASA Secretary (1988-1990), UDASA deputy secretary (1986-1988) and UDASA member of Human Rights Committee (1982-1983). In honour of his commitment to advancing academic freedom and social justice in Tanzania and beyond, a Chachage Scholarship was launched by UDASA in 2012 which provides an opportunity for candidates with academic potential to pursue a postgraduate degree in any academic field at UDSM.

The late Chachage was a Professor of Sociology at UDSM. He had a PhD in sociology from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and an MA and BA in Sociology from the University of Dar es Salaam.  Prof Chachage researched, consulted, and published extensively on this field.

Prof Chachage headed the UDSM department of Sociology at various periods and was an Associate Dean of Research and Publications at UDSM from 2000-2003. He had also been a member of the Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) with several leadership roles, including as a chairperson of the CODESRIA Scientific Committee (1995-1998) and as a member of the CODESRIA’s executive committee (2005 until his death in 2006). He had also written a number of Kiswahili novels, the most famous ones being "Makuadi wa Soko Huria" and "Sudi ya Yohana".