تخلیدا ً للذكرى
IN MEMORIAM
Remembering & Celebrating Professor Emeritus Michael Hudson
I
t is with heavy hearts that the CCAS community mourns the loss of Professor Emeritus Michael Craig Hudson, who passed away on May 25, 2021. Dr. Hudson was a founder of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and served as its director for many years (1976-1982, 19841989, 2004-2006, and 2007-2010). A Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University, Dr. Hudson also held the Seif Ghobash Chair of Arab Studies at CCAS.
“Mike was a brilliant political scientist of the Arab World, with a deep knowledge of the politics of Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Yemen, as well as U.S.-Arab relations,” writes his longtime colleague Professor Judith Tucker. “His was a knowledge informed by a lifetime of experience on the ground, empathy and respect for the people of the region, and warm collaborative relationships with his colleagues across the Arab World.” Dr. Hudson was born on June 2, 1938 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, Robert Bowman Hudson, Jr. of Dublin, Virginia, was an urban planner and pioneer of public educational broadcasting. His mother, Joan Loram Hudson, was born in South Africa and was a champion college tennis player. Michael grew up in Denver, Colorado and attended high school at University High in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and also in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He graduated from Swarthmore College and received his PhD in political science from Yale University, 6
studying with legendary political scientist He worked closely with his lifelong friends Karl Deutsch and influenced by anthropolo- Hisham Sharabi, Halim Barakat, Clovis gist Marshall Sahlins, with whom he took a Maksoud, Ibrahim Oweiss, John Ruedy and course as a high school student. Judith Tucker, among many others, to shape Dr. Hudson’s lifelong engagement with the field of interdisciplinary Arab studies. “As the Arab world was sparked when, as an ex- one of the founders and longtime director of change student in Beirut, he witnessed first- CCAS, he was the chief architect and major hand the U.S. military intervention in the force behind the Center’s rise to national and 1958 Lebanese crisis. He went on to focus his international prominence as the premier site study of politics and international relations for research, teaching, and study of the Arab on the Arab world and Middle East. His first World,” writes Judith Tucker. “Michael was a book, The Precarious Republic: driving force at CCAS, laying out plans and Political Modernization in Leb- building roads for so many others to travel,” anon (1968), was widely con- adds Professor Rochelle Davis. “As a founder sidered the pioneering English of CCAS, he helped create a Center whose language monograph on that vision remains one of ethical and in-depth country’s political fragility. engagement with the Arab world.” Similarly, his second book and Former staff remember Prof. Hudson as a master work, Arab Politics: The mentor and friend. “He was a true leader and Search for Legitimacy (1977), visionary as he guided the growth and develcrossed the entire Arab world opment of CCAS, with decisions based on and was a major contribution integrity, unwavering principles, and an abidto the exploration of identity, ing caring for the people of the Arab world,” history and power as contribu- writes former CCAS Assistant Director tors to regional instability. In Zeina Azzam. “Mike always looked out for addition to these two major works, which CCAS staff, bringing out the best in us and grounded the field of Middle East politi- opening doors to allow our potential to shine. cal science in qualitative research and com- He was an inspiring director, professor, and parative frameworks, he edited and authored scholar and a genuine humanitarian.” dozens of volumes, scholarly articles, and commentaries. Dr. Michael was a driving force at Hudson served as president of CCAS, laying out plans and building the Middle East Studies Association in 1986-87 and was a roads for so many others to travel. frequent and sought-after media commentator on Middle Eastern affairs “Mike was a rare individual: a combination and U.S. foreign policy for decades. of great intellect, open curiosity and genuine Dr. Hudson began his career as a lecturer fun,” recalls former CCAS Assistant Director at the City University of New York, later Rania Kiblawi. “You knew he was hatching moving to Washington, DC to teach at the some great idea by the twinkle in his eyes and School of Advanced International Stud- that funny way of rubbing his head. He was ies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. In a joy to work with, always thinking of ways 1975, he joined the School of Foreign Ser- to make CCAS stronger and better, and he vice of Georgetown University as director of taught us to embrace challenges on behalf of the the newly established Center for Con- a greater cause.” temporary Arab Studies and accepted a poAfter serving several terms as CCAS disition as professor of international relations rector, Dr. Hudson was recruited as the in the Government Department in 1979. founding director of the Middle East Insti-
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies - Georgetown University
