O B I T U A R I E S
Halpern was scholar of politics, transformation
Manfred Halpern, professor of politics, emeritus, died Jan. 14 in his home in Princeton. He was 76. An expert on the politics of the Near East and Africa, Halpern focused his later work on an original "theory of transformation" that explained the creation of fundamentally new and better relations between people.
Halpern received his bachelor's degree in literature from the University of California-Los Angeles and his master's degree and doctorate from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. From 1948 to 1958 he served in the State Department in a variety of intelligence research positions, particularly as an expert on the politics of the Near East and Africa. In recognition of his outstanding service for research, he was given the Meritorious Service Award in 1952.
Halpern began teaching at Princeton as a visiting associate professor in 1958. He joined the politics department the next year and remained at Princeton until his retirement in 1994. He taught graduate and undergraduate courses on the Middle East and modernization theory, and his classes twice were selected in student rankings of the University's top undergraduate courses.
In 1962, Halpern wrote what has become a classic study in its field, "The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa," which has been reprinted six times. He also wrote more than 30 scholarly articles, book chapters and monographs. During his tenure at the University, he was a faculty associate of the Center of International Studies and the Program in Near Eastern Studies.
Halpern was a founding member of the Middle East Studies Association, the National Council of the American Society for Social Psychiatry, and Americans for Democratic Action. He served as associate editor for the journal World Politics and as a research fellow at the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs (University of Chicago). He also was a member of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
After spending two decades studying political change, Halpern devoted his energies to his theory of transformation and was finishing the first volume of what was to be a two-volume study of that theory. The volume, "Transforming Our Personal, Political, Historical and Sacred Being" will be published posthumously with the assistance of his friend and colleague, David T. Abalos. In 1988, Seton Hall University awarded Halpern an honorary degree for his work on the theory of transformation.
Survivors include his wife, Cynthia Perwin Halpern, and their son, Joshua. There will be a memorial service in the spring at the University. Donations may be sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 500 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36014.
Student obituary
Graduate student Cheng Liao, 27, died Jan. 2 in his Plainsboro apartment from complications from the flu.
Liao was a sixth-year doctoral candidate in the computer science department and was within a month of completing his dissertation. He graduated in 1995 at the top of his class at China's Tsinghua University, where he won several scholarships and awards. His research had been presented at several symposiums and published in the International Journal of Parallel and Distributed Systems and Networks.
Staff obituaries
Retired employees
December: Harold Wertz, 69 (1973-1996, utility plant); and Eureka Young, 65 (1980-1997, dining services).
January: Robert Hill, 72 (1962-1980, astrophysical sciences).
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