SenD#6333
MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
ROBERT E. WARD
(1916-2009)
Professor Emeritus Robert E. Ward, a pioneering scholar of Japanese politics, an effective
program builder, energetic administrator, and a key architect of Stanford’s program in
international studies, passed away on December 7, 2009. He was 93 years old.
From his undergraduate years at Stanford (Class of ’36) to his decision to join the
Stanford faculty in 1973 and his retirement in 1987 as Professor of Political Science and Senior
Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Robert Ward held a deep affection for, and abiding loyalty
towards, Stanford University. His wife, Constance, graduated from Stanford in 1939, as did his
eldest daughter, Erica, in 1972.
After studying Japanese at the Navy Language School in Colorado during the Second
World War, Professor Ward began a long and distinguished career as one of the leading
scholars of Japanese politics, US-Japan relations, and comparative political development.
For a quarter of a century--from 1948 – 1973, Professor Ward was a member of the faculty
of the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. He and his colleagues
from the Departments of History, Anthropology, and Economics were the first foreign scholars
to be allowed to do collaborative field research in a small rural community in Okayama Japan.
They jointly authored a pioneering, interdisciplinary study, “Village Japan”, which quickly
became a classic in field of Japanese studies. Professor Ward went on to author or co-edit eight
books and a score of articles on Japanese politics and comparative political development. The
focus of his research prior to his retirement was the Allied Occupation of Japan.
Professor Ward was a steering committee member of an international group of scholars,
which sought to apply macro-level insights from social science theory to an interdisciplinary
analysis of Japan’s economic, social, and political development. Out of this multiyear project
came four seminal volumes on the modernization of Japan (and several books and many
articles). For many years, the modernization series defined the framework for the study of
Japan’s experience as the first non-Western nation-state to industrialize and to assume a place as
a global power.
In addition to his scholarly activities, Professor Ward established a remarkable track
record as a tireless administrator and proven program builder. From 1965-68 and then again,
from 1971-73, he served as Director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of
Michigan. From 1972 – 73, he served as President of two national organizations: the Association
of Asian Studies and the American Political Science Association. This was the first and last time
that someone has presided simultaneously over the two most prominent national associations
encompassing both area studies and the discipline of political science. His dual leadership role
reflects his conviction that though the methodological approaches of area studies and political
science may differ, each field can be enriched by insights developed by the other.
Robert E. Ward Memorial Resolution—continued…
From 1968 – 73, Professor Ward was member of the National Endowment for the
Humanities National Council. From 1978-79, he served on President Carter’s Commission on
Foreign Language and International Studies. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the Social Science Research Council. He was named a Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
Professor Ward was appointed as the first President of Japan-US Friendship
Commission, a foundation that he had helped to design and bring into existence. He also found
time to serve as a member of the American Panel of the United States-Japan Conference on
Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON). In 1984, the Japanese government,
recognizing Robert E. Ward’s many contributions to US-Japan relations, fittingly awarded him
the Order of the Sacred Treasure, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a non-Japanese
citizen.
Given his vast experience and considerable renown as an international research scholar
and program builder, Stanford managed to woo Robert Ward away from the University of
Michigan in 1973 to become the first Director of the Center for Research in International Studies.
He was given a mandate to integrate the various small, independent centers of research and
teaching at Stanford into a single, coherent program in international studies. His goal was to
put Stanford on the map as one of the world’s leading centers for international research,
training, and policy studies. In accomplishing this task, Professor Robert Ward became one of
the key architects of what has developed into the Freeman Spogli Institute for International
Studies at Stanford.
Daniel I. Okimoto, Emeritus