WALTER DOWNING CONNOR

1942 - 2022

CONNOR, Walter Downing Professor emeritus of Political Science, International Relations, and Sociology at Boston University, and Fellow of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University died in his sleep on January 27, 2022, surrounded by his family. Connor was author of many books on Soviet and East European affairs, the most notable include Socialism, Politics and Equality, Hierarchy and Change in Eastern Europe and USSR (1979) and Accidental Proletariat, Workers, Politics and Crisis in Gorbachev's Russia (1991). In addition, he contributed to numerous journals and edited volumes. He served on the editorial boards of learned journals, served as officer in scholarly organizations, and won prestigious grants including ones from the Guggenheim Foundation and American Council of Learned Societies. During an interlude in his academic career Connor directed the program of Society and East European Studies at the Foreign Service Institute for which he won the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. His scholarship involved a great deal of time in both the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, including six months at Moscow University as an exchange fellow in 1969. Connor was born in 1942 in Islip, New York, son of Edward J. Connor and Mary Downing Connor. He received a BA from College of the Holy Cross (1963) and a MA and PhD from Princeton University (1969). He began his academic career as Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In addition to a lifetime of scholarship, Walter will be remembered as an avid fan of Formula One racing, for his a love of British sports cars, and an enthusiasm for the Christmas season, as evidenced by the annual Christmas party graciously hosted by him and his wife, Eileen, of 55 years. Walter Connor of Boston and Wellfleet, MA. Beloved husband of Eileen (Donohue) Connor; devoted father of Christine Connor (and husband Jonathan Coulton) and Elizabeth Connor all of Brooklyn, NY; dear brother of the late Eleanor Kleinmeier; loving grandfather of Eleanor and Theodore Coulton. Funeral from the Lehman, Reen, McNamara Funeral Home, 63 Chestnut Hill Ave. (nr. Brighton Courthouse), BRIGHTON, on Monday, February 7, 2022 at 9:00AM, followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church, 28 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill at 10:00AM. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Interment private. Visiting Hours, Sunday, February 6, 2022 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Walter may be made to International Rescue Committee, Habitat for Humanity, or Jesuit Refugee Services. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.lehmanreen.com Lehman Reen McNamara Brighton 617 782 1000