Obituaries

Professor W. Scott Thompson was a member of both Ford and Reagan Administrations and a Professor Emeritus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. A graduate of Phillips Andover Academy and Stanford University, he was a Rhodes Scholar and Danforth Fellow at Oxford University. Dr. Thompson authored and edited numerous books and articles on foreign policy and governance, including one co-authored with his son Nicholas, The Baobab and the Mango Tree: African and Asian Contrasts. He was an Assistant to the Secretary of Defense in 1975-1976 as a White House Fellow, and he later served in the Reagan Administration as Associate Director, U.S. Information Agency, from 1982-1984. From 1986-1993 he was on the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace, a Presidential appointment with the advice and consent of the Senate. Following those years, he authored Price of Achievement: Coming Out in Reagan Days, breaking new ground for government appointees. He was also an advisor to two Filipino presidents, its National Security Council and four Filipino cabinet members and has resided in the Philippines since the late 1990s. He published several detailed analyses of Philippine and Thai relations with the United States. His most recent book, Trustee of the Nation: The Biography of Fidel V. Ramos, was a widely-acclaimed examination of the Philippine government as well as of President Ramos himself. Professor Thompson was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and he was a Founding Member of the Committee on the Present Danger in 1976. Both his hospitality and the intensity and warmth of his friendships were legendary. He hosted many friends during his years in the Philippines - in Manila and at his lake house, and at his retreat in Bali. Earlier, in the Washington, DC area, he was known for the chamber music concerts he sponsored and his yearly azalea parties at his home bordering Rock Creek Park. Wherever he lived, he welcomed people from every corner of his varied life. He took on projects with gusto: whether creating a garden, keeping up with a voluminous correspondence, critiquing a dissertation, or listening to every single piece composed by Bach. 

Bobo studied Modern History as a Rhodes Scholar and then gained a Law degree from Harvard. Since 1965, he practised law in Washington DC and he mainly worked in the representation of Indian tribal governments. Bobo represented Native American tribes including the Miccosukee, Seminoles, Navajo, Mohicans, Oglala Sioux and Mississippi Band of Choctaw as well as various tribes and tribal organizations in Alaska including the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation and the Norton Sound Health Corporation.

Gerald was a retired entrepreneur and consultant.

In 1955, Paul undertook a DPhil in Engineering Science whilst at the University of Oxford. Paul went on to have a career as a civil engineer and a professor of engineering design.

Alan Edward Davis studied medicine at Sydney University, graduating in 1955 and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1956. During his time at Oxford he attained a master of arts and a bachelor of science. He subsequently undertook postgraduate training at the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Postgraduate Medical School of London and at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He later gained an MD from Sydney University in 1967 and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Alan was an associate professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of New South Wales for many years. He was a greatly admired teacher of medical students and junior doctors, and co-authored a leading textbook on physical diagnosis in medicine (Symptom analysis and physical diagnosis in medicine Rushcutters Bay, Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1977). He chaired grand rounds at the Prince of Wales Hospital for many years, stimulating discussion and learning and inspiring both his peers and junior colleagues alike.

Read more about Alan's life and work. 

Political scientist, author and professor of government at Essex University who became a popular television commentator on UK election nights. He published many articles and books such as A Self-portrait (1974) and Who Governs Britain? (2015).

Thomas was born in Toronto, Canada in 1929 to an evangelical family. He was an author, broadcaster, columnist and theologian, and graduated from Oxford in 1954. Afterwards he studied theology and was a tutor in Greek at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. Thomas also became a priest at St Margaret in-the-Pines Anglican Church in Scarborough, 1957, for seven years and then left to teach Theology at Toronto University. In 1971, he became the religion editor at the Toronto Star and undertook extensive travelling to 20 countries. During this time he met prominent religious figures Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. He was also the first journalist to do a 161km trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem despite the risks of floods and guerrilla terrorists. He is known for advocating the Christ myth theory – the idea that Jesus did not historically exist but is an allegorical character to help people live better lives. Thomas authored a number of books including For Christ’s Sake (1993) and The Pagan Christ (2004). Furthermore, he had his own radio show, Harpur’s Heaven and Hell and wrote articles for the Postmedia network and a column for the Sun Media.

Professor William Russell Hardin, studied mathematics and physics at the University of Texas. In 1964, he studied mathematics at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and in 1971 he received his PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hardin was well known for his ground breaking work in political science, moral and social theory, and public policy, as his interdisciplinary perspective allowed him to integrate insights from diverse fields to shed light on the limitations of morality, politics, and knowledge. He spent two decades at New York University, where he came in 1993 to rebuild the department of politics, followed a nearly fifteen year career at the University of Chicago, where he played the key role in establishing and heading the School of Public Policy. At Chicago, he also served as Editor of Ethics, guiding the Journal with a passionate commitment to rigorous interdisciplinary work and his cultivation of free debate among diverse views.

The prolific scholar and author, admired teacher, beloved husband and father, died peacefully in hospice at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, February 24, 2017. Contributions can be made to the American Civil Liberties Union.