J. Peter Euben

1939 - 2018

J. Peter Euben
July 18, 1939-May 28, 2018
Silver Spring, MD
J. Peter Euben, whose pioneering scholarship and intellectual curiosity made him a mentor to generations of students, passed away on May 28, 2018 at the age of 78. His professional life was devoted to teaching political theory to undergraduate and graduate students, for 34 years at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and then, beginning in 2002, at Duke University, where he taught for much of the next decade. He earned his B.A. in philosophy at Swarthmore College, and his Ph.D in political science at UC Berkeley in 1968. At both UCSC and Duke, Euben was a gifted, renowned, and beloved teacher. His singular teaching style mixed intense intellectual engagement and passionate commitment to political action with a mischievous sense of humor (bad puns were a specialty) and dramatic flair that made ideas--and their consequences--come alive. Euben's scholarship was also strikingly innovative and generative. His studies of ancient political thought were ground-breaking in their inclusion of Greek tragedy, drama and comedy; in their attention to literary style; and in their sensitivity to political and rhetorical context. Euben was also a loving father and doting grandfather. He is survived by two daughters, Donna and Roxanne, two sons-in-law, Mark Smith and Jonathan Perry, and three grandchildren, Lauren 15, Jenna 13, and Asha 7. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.


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