Introduction from Jonathan S. Gellman, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell Class of 1970
"I regret that I have no classroom experiences of Ted Lowi to offer, as my Government studies at Cornell in 1966-70 coincide with most of the interlude he spent at the University of Chicago. But I thought to try the next best thing and contact Professor Andrew Hacker, who, while having been in the Cornell diaspora longer than Ted, has remained loyal to Cornell and appreciative of Ted and the years before 1966 that they shared as young faculty at Cornell’s Government Department.
I asked Professor Hacker about his memory of Ted, received his email response, below, and then asked for and received permission to forward that response. I think Professor Hacker’s tribute to a former contemporary colleague is worth sharing. In particular, I admire its candid but generous treatment of a classic personal and professional subject for professors of Government -- ambition. There is a warmth in how Professor Hacker recalls how scholarly ambition pulled Ted Lowi away from Cornell -- and how his ambition changed and brought him back."
As junior members of the Government department, Ted and I were colleagues and friends for about half-a-dozen years. During that span, Government was the most numerous major in the College of Arts and Sciences. It wasn’t that so many undergraduates wanted to become lawyers or diplomats. The reason was that we took teaching very seriously. Every professor, from the top down, taught an introductory course, and we did because we respected the students. Ted joined in that endeavor, and was among its strongest exemplars. That’s why he is recalled so fondly by so many graduates.
Quite early, Ted had a stroke of good luck. At the age of 38, he published a book he called The End of Liberalism. It was and is an important book. But more central was the title. It was a phrase many people were waiting for, because it echoed what was in their minds. So Ted co-opted the franchise, by saying it first and aloud. It’s an academic variant of Starbucks and Coca-Cola and Apple. It couldn't have happened to a finer guy. (My own book at about that time was called The End of the America Era. It didn't come close to Ted’s.)
A final memory. I recollect when Ted left Cornell for the University of Chicago. In those days, you had to scamper when Chicago made you an offer. It was the prima research setting, and to be there meant you had absolutely made it. Needless to say, the prestige teaching there was all in postgraduate seminars. After a few years, Ted had his reputation, so he could go back [to] what he really loved: working with undergraduates. And where else to do that, but return to Cornell?
Andrew Hacker
Queens College
New York City
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