David Abernethy

1937 - 2026

David Abernethy
04/23/1937 - 01/30/2026
David Beaven Abernethy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stanford University, died on January 30, 2026 of motor neuron disease in accord with California's End of Life Option Act. He specialized in the political history of sub-Saharan Africa and provided the historical backdrop to today's international setting in THE DYNAMICS OF GLOBAL DOMINANCE: EUROPEAN OVERSEAS EMPIRES, 1415-1980. Born in 1937 to Rev. Bradford S. Abernethy and Jean Beaven Abernethy, he was a graduate of The Hill School and Harvard College. Two years at Oxford were followed by doctoral work at Harvard. His dissertation, based on fieldwork in southern Nigeria, was published in revised form as THE POLITICAL DILEMMA OF POPULAR EDUCATION: AN AFRICAN CASE. He loved to teach and mentor. Some of his students became prominent in the international development field, working in government, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and business. David Abernethy received awards from Stanford for distinguished teaching and for contributions to undergraduate education. In retirement he chaired the Stanford Emeriti/ae Council for twelve years. Its "Autobiographical Reflections" speaker series was named in his honor. He was the faculty lecturer on Stanford Alumni Association Travel/Study trips to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He was active musically, playing the violin, singing in choral groups, and attending orchestral concerts. He enjoyed hiking and rowing his single scull on the lake beside the family's cottage in New Hampshire. And there was his silly side. He wrote zany poems and was an inveterate punster. He read aloud Winnie-the-Pooh stories with exaggerated accents for the major characters to provide comical diversion for listeners young and old. Abernethy's first wife, Julia Griffith, died in 1978. In 1980 he married Susan Getman Ross. He leaves Susan; son Bruce and his wife Mary Meador of Bend, Oregon; son Brad and his wife Jocelyn Downie of Halifax, Nova Scotia; sister Barbara Petersmeyer and her husband Thomas of Pasadena, California; and four grandchildren.