Obituaries

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.

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Robert George Perceval Voss.

Born in 1928 in Baltimore, Robert’s early education took him from Christian Brothers College in Pretoria to St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg, before he went on to the University of Natal. He completed his BSc there in 1950, followed by advanced studies at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where he was awarded his DPhil in 1955.

Robert’s distinguished academic and professional career began with teaching roles in engineering and physics, including a lectureship at the University of Liverpool and significant contributions to the Nuclear Physics Research Laboratory. He was a senior physicist at CERN and later held several leadership positions at Daresbury Laboratory in the UK, ultimately serving as Acting Director and then Deputy Director, leading the major project for the Nuclear Structure Facility. His later years were marked by senior leadership roles at the Science and Engineering Research Council and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Throughout his life, Robert was recognized for his contributions to science and engineering, being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1984 and a Fellow of Engineering in 1987. He will be remembered by friends and colleagues for his dedication to scientific research and education, and for his leadership in the international physics community.

The Rhodes Trust is deeply grateful that Robert remembered the Trust in his Will.

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.

Wilson was a retired reporter for the New York Times and a correspondent for CBS radio. He came up to Oxford in 1937 and gained a master’s degree in PPE. Wilson’s career was conducted all over the globe and did some occasional writing assignments for Rockefeller Foundation in USA, Mexico, Turkey, Philippines 1968-80.

Modern Languages (French & Italian) Then was Lewis-Farmington Fellow in French at Yale University. Hugh had a career in languages and humanities at the University of Glasgow and Warwick, UK.

William Barber came up to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1949, pursuing PPE before reading for a DPhil in Economics. He went on to be an infantry soldier during the Second World War and later joined Wesleyan University where he spent 37 years teaching. William was actively engaged in the Wesleyan leadership from being a founding member of the College of Social studies, to Acting President for three months in 1988 until President Chase assumed office. Moreover, his numerous publications include A History of Economic Thought, 11 other books as author or editor, and hundreds of articles on economic trends and developments in the United States, Africa, Britain, Europe, India and other areas of Asia. He remained extremely committed to the Rhodes Trust throughout his life. Professor Barber was the American Secretary from 1970 to 1980 and he greatly assisted in the process of opening up the Rhodes Scholarship to women. He was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the Rhodes Trust. He received many other honours and awards including the Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellowship for study in Africa from 1955-57, Distinguished Fellow of the History of Economics Society in 2002 at Wesleyan University and he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Wesleyan.

BA English and achieved a PhD in English Language and Literature from Yale University in 1970. Davis was a lifelong spiritual seeker and was a student of many spiritual communities. Davis was a professor of English Literature and received and MA in Counseling Psychology from the College of St. Thomas. He particularly loved writing poetry for his wife.

As a Rhodes Scholar, Robert gained a DPhil in Politics which led to a long term career in academia. He worked at McGill, Makerere University (Uganda) and he was a Professor of political science at the University of Toronto for over four decades. . In 1960, at the age of 34 Robert was appointed as the first Principal of the newly founded University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) and for four years he oversaw both the construction of the campus as well as the appointment of the new faculty. Other achievements were his appointment as Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada and being named an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition for his powerful advocacy for social justice.