RICHARD HEDRICH

Dr. RICHARD HEDRICH (Age 83)  Early Humanities Official  
One of the first staff members of the National Endowment for the Humanities, died of cancer at 10:15 a.m. on December 16, 2012.Dr. Hedrich entered the government in 1960 as an associate in the Research division of the U.S. Office of Education, and moved to the newly established Humanities agency in 1966. He was its first Grants Officer, then first Director, Division of Public Programs, and from 1973 until his retirement in 1980, Coordinator of the Endowment's new Program of Science, Technology and Human Values. In that capacity he served on advisory panels for a number of agencies including the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.In 1959 he received a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Maryland, where he was an instructor from 1958 to 1969 and taught evening courses for six additional years.A native of Tiskilwa, Illinois, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1951. Receiving a Navy commission upon graduation, he served on active duty for three years. For several more years he was a member of the reserve Naval Intelligence Company in Washington.Dr. Hedrich was a longtime member of the American Political Science Association and the American Society of International Law.He is survived by nieces Susan Wallace of River Forest, Illinois and Mary Katherine Pomonis of Champaign, Illinois, and nephews Richard Hedrich of Henderson, Nevada, James Hedrich of Norcross, Georgia, and John Hedrich of Princeton, Illinois.Services will be private