George Rabinowitz

George Rabinowitz
April 27, 1943 - March 18, 2011
Chapel Hill
George Rabinowitz, 67, Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died of sudden cardiac arrest on March 18, 2011 while on a research fellowship in Trondheim, Norway.
George was born in New York City on April 27, 1943, the second son of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Rabinowitz. He was a fun-loving child who enjoyed playing stickball in the neighborhood more than school. George attended public school in the Bronx, NY, and thereafter Hobart College. After a brief stint in medical school, he found his academic calling as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, where he was awarded a masters degree in Mathematics in 1971, and a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1973. There he met the love of his life, Stuart Elaine Macdonald, also a political science Ph.D. student, whom he married in 1970 and continued to take on a date every weekend thereafter.
Together with Stuart, George moved to Chapel Hill in 1971 to take a job at the University of North Carolina, where he taught and conducted research for almost 40 years, until his untimely death. George and Stuart had two sons, Joshua and David, both of whom attended Chapel Hill public schools and the University of North Carolina. Joshua is a chemistry professor at Princeton University, and David a filmmaker in Chapel Hill. George was a remarkably dedicated father, cooking dinner and reading to his boys every night. More recently he was a loving caregiver to his parents, who spent their final years at The Cedars in Chapel Hill.
Together with Stuart, his longtime collaborator, George developed the directional theory of issue voting, a theory that accounts for the polarization of American politics and the dearth of successful centrist political parties in multi-party systems. George and Stuart were awarded the Heinz Eulau Prize by the American Political Science Association in 1991 for their theory.
George was a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters, co-founder of the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section of the American Political Science Association, and a devoted teacher and mentor to undergraduate and graduate students. Outside the office, he enjoyed seeing friends, going to movies and concerts, and playing golf with colleagues. He was a joyful keeper of extended family ties.
George is survived by his wife Stuart, his brother Michael, his sons Joshua and David, daughter-in-law Emily, and grandson James. A graveside funeral will be held at the Judea Reform Cemetery on Monday, April 4th at 2 PM. The cemetery is on Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the George Rabinowitz Memorial Fund in Political Science, and sent to The Arts and Sciences Foundation, c/o Ali Kroeger, 134 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.