Obituaries
Please alert us to the recent death of any other Rhodes Scholar by emailing communications@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk.
Pete MacVeagh passed away on September 19, 2022, at age 90.
Graduate of Webster Groves, Missouri, High School Class of 1949, received an academic scholarship to Harvard University, awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and earned a Master's Degree in History and Literature from Balliol College at Oxford University.
Served in the United States Army, going through Officer Candidate School "OCS", and was a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He then worked for the St. Louis, Missouri, office of Price Waterhouse, studied at night school to earn his CPA, and enjoyed many years of consulting work in the Midwest. Was transferred to the Washington, D.C., office of Price Waterhouse to do international consulting, including consulting projects for the World Bank. His work carried him to Japan, South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, and he enjoyed the interesting people he worked with and learning about their cultures. After retirement from Price Waterhouse, he and his son, Chip, worked on consulting with the goal of remediating coal mine land using agricultural waste to renovate the bare land. He enjoyed spending time with his wife, Patricia, whom he adored throughout their entire marriage, and whom he thought about every day after her passing. He was an avid organic vegetable gardener, and enjoyed travel, walking and hiking outdoors, horseback riding, and reading. He had wide-ranging interests in books, and read about science, history, military history, and biographies.
One of Cornell College’s only Rhodes Scholars and a longtime Coe College professor of philosophy and computer science, Peter McCormick ’65 died Aug. 29, 2022, in Durango, Colorado. He was 79.
He held a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in computer science from the University of Iowa, and B.A.s from Cornell College (in philosophy and German) and Oxford University. At Cornell he played violin, sang in Oratorio, and joined the swim team.
McCormick taught at Coe from 1974–2018, helping to establish Coe’s honors program in 1982. He played a critical role in integrating the internet to campus operations as Coe’s first director of academic computing in 1994. He firmly believed in a liberal arts education and vibrant campus experience, and in addition to constantly advocating for the importance of developing a breadth of knowledge, was a familiar presence at athletics and campus events. “Beyond his incredible intellect, Peter was a gifted athlete, and for many of us, he good-naturedly delivered the worst thrashing we ever received on the squash court,” the Coe President’s Office wrote in a message after his death.
He established the Peter McCormick ’65 Cultural Diversity Endowment at Cornell to promote student awareness and understanding of cultural diversity in the U.S., especially the cultures of historically important groups such as Native Americans, that have become marginalized in contemporary America.
Bryce Nelson, an award-winning journalist, dedicated professor and former director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism, has died at the age of 84. After two decades as a reporter at major news organizations, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, Nelson devoted the final 30 years of his career to training and mentoring future journalists while tirelessly serving the broader USC community.
Nelson died on August 20 in Alhambra, Calif.
“Bryce was one of the most beloved members of our USC Annenberg community, uniformly praised for his intellect, but also for the depth of his kindness and compassion,” said USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay. “His service to both our students and our university was nothing short of extraordinary.”
Nelson joined the USC Annenberg faculty in 1984 as director of the School of Journalism, a position he held until 1988. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses from “Media and Society” to “Government and Washington Reporting” and “Newswriting” until his retirement in 2014. In addition, he led the school’s London semester program, focusing on research and international news media.
A three-time recipient of the Graduate Journalism Students Association’s Outstanding Faculty Award, Nelson was also recognized with a USC-Mellon Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Students in 2008.
“Bryce was a dedicated educator and a passionate advocate for journalism’s ethical responsibilities,” said Gordon Stables, director of the School of Journalism. “He was a wonderful colleague and someone whose legacy still informs us within the school today.”
A Rhodes Scholarship recipient, who earned his MPhil degree in politics from Oxford University, Nelson served as a Rhodes Scholar representative for USC from 1986 to 2014 and as chair of the university’s Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee. His wide-ranging committee roles across the university also included the President’s Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid, the USC Academic Senate and the President’s Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure.
Professor of Communication Thomas Hollihan praised Nelson as a “transformational leader,” who helped lead the journalism school when it was merged with the communication school in 1994-95.
“Bryce was a man of great intelligence, compassion and integrity, and an outstanding friend, colleague and mentor,” Hollihan added.
When University Professor Geoffrey Cowan joined USC Annenberg as dean in 1997, he recalled Nelson being “one of the true shining lights.”
“Bryce was a talented teacher, principled leader and award-winning journalist whose work had an impact on society,” Cowan said. “He was known for his crusading reporting on issues of national security and the environment, for his leadership as a former Rhodes Scholar, and for his work for the Christopher Commission that brought about police reform in Los Angeles in the wake of the beating of Rodney King.”
Another colleague, Jonathan Kotler, associate professor of journalism, remembers Nelson as “the most moral man I ever met.”
“Across the four decades that I knew him, Bryce never failed to stand up to authority in his never-ending quest to have people do the right thing on behalf of others,” Kotler said. “For him, ethics were never situational.”
Nelson’s wife, Mary Shipp Barlett, also recalled how he balanced a steadfast commitment to his craft with his “trademark humor” and the “simple, thoughtful outreach” he shared with those across the school. “Every morning on his way to his second-floor office, he would pick up a stack of The Daily Trojan and stop by multiple offices to distribute a copy and say ‘good morning’ to staff,” she said.
Born in Reno, Nev., and raised in Boise, Idaho, Nelson received his bachelor’s degree in social relations and American history from Harvard University, where he also served as president of the Harvard Crimson. Following his studies at Oxford, he taught political science at the University of Pittsburgh before assuming aide posts for Sen. Frank Church and Sen. Hubert Humphrey’s vice presidential campaign.
This led Nelson to the Washington Post, where he covered congressional and foreign affairs, before joining Science magazine, where his reporting exposing government blacklisting resulted in major reform in federal security procedures and earned him the Albert Deutsch Award for Distinguished Journalism in 1970.
Nelson later made his way to Chicago, where he became the national correspondent and then Midwest bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times before returning to Washington, DC, to serve as the Times’ national correspondent there. In 1980, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his investigative reporting series “The Poisoning of America,” which also earned him an Associated Press Award.
In his final reporting post before joining USC Annenberg, Nelson was a human behavior writer for The New York Times, garnering a distinguished contributor award from the American Psychological Association’s National Media Awards.
To honor Nelson’s many contributions to his field and higher education, the School of Journalism established the Bryce Nelson Award for Distinguished Journalism in 1990. Awarded annually, the honor is reserved for a graduating student who shows outstanding reporting and writing abilities, superior academic performance, and a commitment to high ethical standards in journalism.
Nelson is survived by his wife, Mary Shipp Bartlett, his son, Matthew Nelson, granddaughter Anneka Winton, and two brothers. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Streiff Nelson, and his daughter, Kristin Nelson Winton.
“Bryce and I met late in life, when a mutual friend set us up because of our shared interest in journalism,” Shipp Bartlett said. “It was instantaneous attraction for me. He was charming, gentle, handsome, brilliant, and funny. Irresistible. We had 11 years together — and my first impression never changed.”
John Kane-Berman, who was born on the eve of apartheid and devoted his life to vigorously opposing the race nationalism of apartheid’s ideologues and, at their defeat, the illiberal impulses of their successors, has died aged 76.
His conviction in the power of ideas was central to his long association with the South African Institute of Race Relations. It remains a profound and lasting influence on the liberal cause, and the continuing efforts to achieve a fairer, prospering South Africa.
Said John Endres, CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations: “John Kane-Berman leaves a profound legacy. As CEO of the Institute from 1983 until 2014, he was a fearless proponent of liberalism before, during and after South Africa’s democratic transition. He sharpened the SAIRR’s focus, put it on a sound financial footing and set it on the path that turned it into the potent force that it is today.
“His brave and unstinting commitment to the liberal cause inspired legions of South African liberals, myself included. John Kane-Berman was known for his eloquent presentation, exceptional memory, thorough command of his subject matter and exemplary discipline. He was demanding, setting the highest standards for himself and others, because he realised the importance of the project he was engaged in: to insist that nothing less than true non-racialism and personal freedom would allow the dignity and prosperity of all South Africans to flourish.”
James Graham McLeod was born on 18 January 1932, the son, and grandson, of builders. After the war, his parents moved to Ashfield, where McLeod was born, the youngest of four children by several years. He was an exceptional student and dux of his leaving year at Sydney Grammar School. His early ambition was to become a veterinarian, because of his love of animals, but instead, but he followed his father’s advice to accept a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Sydney, and never looked back.
McLeod’s involvement with the University of Sydney, both professionally and spiritually, was lifelong. He is an alumnus of the University’s St Paul’s College, where he was a sub-warden (1958). While completing a BSc (Med) in 1953, McLeod met Professor Frank Cotton, who was assessing students for their physical capacity for rowing. Although McLeod had no experience in this sport, results of his tests suggested he may succeed as an oarsman. Indeed, he won a university Blue in rowing (also in rifle shooting) and represented NSW in the King’s Cup.
McLeod was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 1953, and in 1956 graduated DPhil (Oxon) for his studies into the physiology of pain. During his candidature he represented Oxford in the Oxford and Cambridge boat race and in 1954, with three other Australia scholars in the crew, helped Oxford to win the centenary race.
Bruce was was educated at Devonport School (1926); Auckland Grammar School (Prefect and Dux, 1938; prizes for English and Latin). He had learned to read at home, with his parents teaching him phonetically, and absorbed a love for books and history. The family moved regularly, as was the wont with teaching appointments in those days. From 1929-1932 the growing family struggled through repeated salary cuts (applied across the board by the state authority), developing a sense of forced self-reliance. Holidays were spent at the Beach at Manley, where the family had a holiday house. The family attended the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, and Christian conventions where, in 1930, Bruce responded to an invitation to accept Christ as saviour. He early shone as a Sunday School scholar and boy soprano. This academic capacity showed through in his classes at Auckland Grammar, where he considered the school 'blessed with really good masters'. Ironically, he did no history at Auckland Grammar, as he was a good student,and history was considered something for students who were no good at Science. [Professing History 1990]
In 1939, the year World War II broke out, Bruce matriculated to Auckland University College (Junior Rugby Team 1941) on scholarships (examination first in English, third in Latin and second overall). Despite his father's wish that he take mathematics (at the time Les was posted to the District High School, Ruawai), Bruce majored in Greek (with units in English and Philosophy) instead, at the insistence of the Classics Professor, E. M. Blaiklock. 'It was a very seminal time, really, thinking of the world events then. I can remember sitting in classrooms, when we were supposed to be listening to the lecturer, and looking at the newspapers under the desks.' (Professing History, 1990). The parallels between the rampaging of Phillip of Macedon through Greece, and the figure of Hitler rampaging through Europe, were not lost on our lecturer, who was Professor Blaiklock, to whom I owe a lot as a student and as a colleague for a long time.' [Professing History 1990] The Classics gave him a sense of history through Demosthenes and Thucydides. Furthermore, he entered university just as the question about the historicity of the New Testament documents was being taken up by evangelical scholars in the UK and Germany. Harris' future colleagues Edward Musgrave Blaiklock (1903-1978) and Herbert Ralph Minn (1908-1996) were significant influences on students in the Evangelical Union, bringing to bear contemporary scholarship based on papyri to the study of New Testament Greek in ways which increased their historical interest. (Blaiklock had been influenced by the Scot W.M. Ramsay and the German scholar G. A. Deissmann, in particular the latter's Light from the Ancient East.)
Born in Toronto, in his teen years Pat moved with his family to Vancouver, where he finished high school and went on to study biology and physics at the University of British Columbia. In 1952, he won a Rhodes Scholarship. He met his first wife, Elizabeth, while at Oxford and became deeply involved with different Christian student groups. It was here he committed himself to Christ. After marrying, the couple moved to Philadelphia, where Pat completed his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. Their two eldest children were born during this time. Next stop was Cambridge for a post-doc and then Vancouver, where Pat took up a position as assistant professor of physics at UBC. Some five years later, with three children in tow, the family moved to London, Ontario, where Pat would join the brand-new Biophysics Department at the University of Western Ontario. He spent the rest of his career at UWO, retiring at the age of 65.
Science in general and biophysics in particular were far from Pat's only interests. He was a devout Christian, often giving talks about the relationship between Christianity and science, and he spent a lot of his time on campus meeting and encouraging Christian students, especially international students. His love of music centred on two passions: country dancing and bagpipes. He heard his first bagpipes in Scotland at the age of 8 and never looked back. His love of dance began with square dances held in the family home in Toronto and over the years branched out to Scottish and English country dance, Morris, Playford and even Swedish country dance. Travel-to Japan, China, Turkey, Ireland, Greece, Mexico, Australia, Alaska, and many other lands-was another of his pleasures.
At the age of 85, some 17 years after Elizabeth's death, Pat remarried. He spent his final years with his new wife Jeanine, dancing, playing duets, attending church together, and fully enjoying each other's company. His was a full life and a rich one, and he was grateful for every bit of it.
Dr. F. Jackson Piotrow, Jack to everyone who knew him, was born June 10, 1931, in Martinsville, Virginia. He completed his high school education in Rochester, New York. He received a bachelor's degree from Haverford College with a major in German. Selected for a Rhodes Scholarship in 1953, he attended Oxford University in England, where he earned an M.A. degree in German and Russian languages and a doctorate in modern Russian history. While based in England on a Ford Foundation fellowship in 1958-59, he conducted research in the Soviet Union on his dissertation dealing with the Constitutional Democratic Party in the reign of Nicholas II. In 1971-72, he held the Henry L. Stimpson Chair of Political Science at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He led study tours in the Soviet Union for students and American University alumni in 1979-80 and again in the summer of 1981. In the 1989 fall semester, he was Visiting Professor of Russian at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
In 1956-58, Jack served in Washington, D.C. as a junior officer on active duty with the U.S. Navy. He entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1960, serving as staff assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Subsequently he worked first as scriptwriter for Edward P. Morgan of ABC News and then as Assistant on Foreign Affairs for Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. He joined The American University faculty in September 1963.
Jack served as a Faculty Member of the School of International Service at The American University from 1963 to 1992. He was Acting Dean and Dean of SIS 1965-66, 1976-78, 1984-1986; and served as Education Director for the Washington Semester Program 1990-91.
Jack was an inquisitive life-long learner. He enjoyed reading and being active. He played tennis for 70 years and tried all kinds of sporting activities over the years, such as sailing, biking, hiking, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, pole trekking, miniature golf, pickle ball, ping pong, and kicking the soccer ball. Jack really enjoyed being out in nature and taking a good walk/hike. He liked to visit local attractions, national parks, historical battlefields, monuments, wildlife centers, zoos, aquariums, and museums. Jack had a knack for finding obscure attractions and hidden gems. It was best to never be in a hurry when on an outing with Jack. He liked to take his time and read every description, historical marker, and information plaque posted along the way.
Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, to J. Alexis Roy (trader) and Anna McLaughlan-Michaud, Raymond benefited from an exceptional educational background. He was awarded the Governor General's Silver Medal for achieving the highest provincial grade in Grade 10, then, having achieved the highest provincial leaving examination results the following year, he was awarded a Lord's Scholarship. Beaverbrook at UNB where he completed a degree in electrical engineering – summa cum laude in 1952. Winner of a Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford, he obtained a master's degree in economics and political science in 1955.
He joined the Foreign Service that year, and for the next 34 years made significant contributions to his country. During his career, he was posted to diplomatic posts in Brussels, Caracas, Bonn, Geneva, Algiers and Berlin. In 1978, he was the first Acadian to be appointed Ambassador of Canada. He was Deputy Head of the Canadian Mission to the European Community, Consul and Resident Head of the Canadian Military Mission in Berlin, member of the Canadian delegation to the GATT "Tokyo Round" in Geneva and Ambassador to Algeria.
Married in 1959 to his Belgian wife Marie-Claire Laterre, he leaves behind his children Dominique (David), Stéphanie (Annie-Claude) and Alexis and his grandchildren Cédric, Danièle and Nicolas, his sister Mafalda, as well as his nephews and nieces Pierre-François, Hubert, Christine, Emmanuelle, Geoffroy and Amélie.
Fully bilingual in the best Canadian tradition, Raymond maintained a distinct spiritual loyalty to his Acadian roots. He was a loyal NAC subscriber from the start, played tennis and enjoyed sailing near the family cottage at Lac Grand in Val-des-Monts or on the Gulf of St-Tropez and swimming from the back deck of its Etap 20 near La Madrague (France).