Obituaries
Please alert us to the recent death of any other Rhodes Scholar by emailing communications@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk.
Christopher Suits studied Modern Languages (Russian) at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1984.
In 1966 he was appointed a Career Officer in the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service, serving tours abroad in Berlin, Vienna, Moscow and Budapest. The Foreign Service Institute certified him to be fluent in Russian, German, Swedish, Hungarian, French and Italian, with a working, speaking and reading knowledge of Norwegian, Dutch and Polish.
Howard J. Burnett, 89, passed away peacefully on June 16, 2019, at his home in Mt. Lebanon. As a Rhodes Scholar, he studied at Queen's College, Oxford University (1954), completing B.A. and M.A. degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Dr. Burnett received his doctorate in Government and International Relations from New York University (1965). Dr. Burnett served in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1958, for which he was honoured as a Distinguished Alumni of the Navy Supply Corps School in 2010. After serving in the Navy, he worked for Booz Allen & Hamilton, A. L. Ransohoff & Company and Texaco.
On July 1, 1970, Dr. Burnett became the 10th president of Washington & Jefferson College, leading the college until his retirement in 1998.
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Girish Karnad graduated with a BA in Maths and Statistics from Karnatak University, then went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar to study for an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1962. He worked at Oxford University Press in Madras (now Chennai) until 1970. In 1989 he and his family settled in Bengaluru (the capital of Karnataka, formerly Bangalore). India’s foremost playwright, as well as a successful film director and popular actor, Girish Karnad also wrote plays in the Indian language of Kannada. Many of his plays were translated into English by Oxford University Press as well as into several other Indian languages. Karnad served as director of the Film and Television Institute of India (1974-75), and chair of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Performing Arts (1988-93). From 2000 to 2003, he was director of the Nehru Centre, the cultural wing of the high commission of India, in London. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
For four decades Karnad composed plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues, and his writings marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada.
Professor David Beim attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Stanford University and Oxford University, where he was Rhodes Scholar. He spent the first twenty-five years of his career in investment banking, including ten years on Wall Street at The First Boston Corporation and executive roles at the Export Import Bank, Dillon Read & Co. and Bankers Trust, where he built the company's Corporate Finance function. He spent the next twenty-five years as a Professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia Business School, where he taught courses on finance, banking, emerging markets and business ethics. He was very active philanthropically in both civic and educational causes. For seventeen years, he served as the Chairman of Wave Hill, which he helped become financially sustainable by establishing its first endowment. Driven by his passion for the outdoors, he served on the board of Outward Bound, including five years as Chairman. He served as a Trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy, where he wrote an influential paper that encouraged Exeter to increase the financial aid it provides to lower-income students. He was also an active member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
After earning a B.A. from Princeton University, Edwin was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for two years' study at Oxford University. There at New College, Oxford, he received the degrees of B. A. and M.A. in English Language and Literature. On leaving Oxford, he served in the army as an artillery lieutenant (R.O.T.C.) with the 2nd Armored Division in Germany. He treasured a rare opportunity to study under Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa. He later received the LL.B. degree from Harvard Law School and practiced law in New York City for three years. He then returned to Princeton, where he earned a Ph.D. in English Literature, after which he taught English at Georgetown University, specialising in Victorian fiction, before retiring in 1974 to pursue further his own writing. Doubleday published his first novel, The Gun and Glory of Granite Hendley, in 1969, after which he went on to write and publish numerous books of stories, poetry, and plays.
Bob Hawke was Australia’s longest-serving Labour Prime Minister, and a charismatic and dearly-loved political leader. He was highly respected on all sides of government, as the recent tide of tributes demonstrates. Bob was an economic and social reformer whose consensus-focused leadership paved the way for economic modernisation, environmental protection, alliances with Asia and improved relations with Indigenous Australians.
In addition to his successful time as Prime Minister, he was a great supporter of the Rhodes community in Australia. He was an active participant in RSA National, especially in the organisation’s early years. He was the keynote speaker at the 2015 RSA dinner in Melbourne, he attended the 2014 dinner at which Prime Minister Tony Abbott (New South Wales & Queen’s 1981) spoke, and the 2016 dinner Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (New South Wales & Brasenose 1978) addressed. Bob was always interested in meeting the Scholars-Elect at these annual gatherings, and visiting with Scholar friends from all generations.
Bob’s tireless efforts, drive and ambition to change Australia for the better were life-long pursuits. He certainly saw himself as ‘fighting the world’s fight’ - and few would disagree he did just that. The Rhodes community will miss Bob greatly.
Peggy was an Accountant at Rhodes House during Warden Robin Fletcher’s time, 1981-9. In recent years, Peggy shared the following with us: “We were always very busy. Approximately 170 Scholars were on stipend each year and since I had an office to myself they soon found I was a confidante to all comers. As to the extent of my experience at Rhodes House, I can only say I have never worked so hard, laughed so much and enjoyed any job more.”
A Rhodes Scholar who received his first of two law degrees while at Oxford, Chuck Lister joined the law firm Covington & Burling in 1970 after clerking for Justice Harlan and teaching at Yale Law School. In 1988, he moved from Washington to the London office and served as Managing Partner there for several years. Widely regarded as one of the firm's most brilliant lawyers and gifted writers, he handled a broad range of litigation and arbitration matters, ranging from antitrust trial work in the States to appellate matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice.