In Memoriam: Doug Chalmers

April 18, 2022

Douglas A. Chalmers, a beloved professor of political science at Columbia University, died on April 4, 2022, from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Professor Chalmers received a B.A. from Bowdoin College in 1953, a M.A. from Yale University in 1958, and a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1962. After working at Swarthmore College and Douglass College, he joined Columbia’s Department of Political Science in 1967. For fifty-two years he taught generations of undergraduates in Contemporary Civilization in the Core Curriculum and graduate students in both the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He provided sensitive and effective leadership in several roles, including Chair of the Department of Political Science, Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS), Acting Dean of Columbia SIPA, Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Retirement, and Executive Director of the Society for Senior Scholars, a group of retired professors who teach in the Core Curriculum of the College.

After retiring in 2005, he was President of Emeritus Professors in Columbia (EPIC) for 2 years from 2014 to 2016 and continued to teach in the Core Curriculum of Columbia College until Spring 2019.

For over half a century Chalmers dedicated himself to the research and writing of comparative politics. Among his several books and articles are: The Social Democratic Party of Germany: from Working-Class Movement to Modern Political Party (1964), The Right and Democracy in Latin America (co-editor, 1992), The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America (author and co-editor, 1997), Problems Confronting Contemporary Democracies: Essays in Honor of Alfred Stepan (author and co-editor, 2012), and Reforming Democracies: Six Facts about Politics that Demand a New Agenda (author, 2013).

In 2019, Professor Chalmers was awarded the Doctorate of Humane Letters at Columbia. Presenting the degree, President Bollinger stated, "As a mentor to generations of budding scholars and public servants, you offered guidance without ego or orthodoxy, creating networks of Latin American experts across disciplines and schools. In so doing, over the span of your illustrious career, you transformed the field.”

Professor Chalmers will be remembered for a lifetime of service to students and scholars at Columbia University and beyond.