George Adams Graham, political scientist and emeritus educator, passed away on February 25, 2005, at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was 100. Among Dr. Graham's most lasting achievements will be his work professionalizing and improving governance of the public sector.

On the occasion of his centennial on December 23, 2004, two of his friends unknowingly presented him with the same card, which read: “Wisdom, integrity, wit, compassion—these aren't the virtues of youth. They're qualities earned through years of hard choices, brave decisions, bold ideas. And when these qualities are present in a man, others see a life well-lived.” Indeed there are many who would acknowledge not only George Graham's well-lived life, but his significant influence on theirs. For his part, Dr. Graham was always quick to acknowledge how much others had helped him along the way.

Congressman David Price (D-NC) writes: “As one who received encouragement from George and had occasional academic exchanges with him (about Woodrow Wilson, mainly), I want you to know how much I admired him. I know that there have been many tributes and expressions of affection from George's friends and admirers, far and wide. I count myself among them.”

George Graham was a faculty member in the politics department at Princeton University from 1930 to 1958. He served as chair from 1946 to 1949 and again from 1952 to 1955. During his tenure at Princeton, he wrote two books, Education for Public Administration in 1941 with Henry Reining, and Morality in American Politics in 1952.

At Professor Graham's memorial service March 3, 2005, in Chapel Hill, former Princeton graduate student Frederic Cleaveland, said, “It is easy to see George fulfilling his role as a supporter and wise counselor of graduate students. I knew him as a seminar leader at Princeton just at the time many of his students had recently returned from World War II. His vision of graduate education in public affairs could be seen in the design of the soon-to-be-established Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,” which opened in 1948. “He served as one of its principal founders and was committed to developing an interdisciplinary approach to advanced learning that blended science, economics, history, sociology and anthropology, thereby achieving an open curriculum of considerable breadth and depth in the social sciences.”

James W. Clark of Princeton, New Jersey, writes: “I had two courses with George when I joined the first Graduate level class of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton in 1948. In 1949–1950 I worked closely with him in producing a management study/administrative history of the Department of the Interior. George was a strong supporter of a career civil service and improved and modern management of the public's business. He was very important in shaping my views, and to this day, I am still working to improve the program at the Woodrow Wilson School in preparing candidates for Public Service. “

Harry Howe Ransom, Emeritus Professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, remembers that: “George Graham chaired the politics department as I entered graduate school, fresh from the Army. I found Professor Graham to be a teacher of utmost integrity, intellectual toughness, and, importantly to a raw and uncertain graduate student, exceptional kindness.”

David Stanley of Arlington, Virginia, says: “From the time I met him as a freshman in Princeton, he was an agreeable and helpful friend. As a professor he was always wise and fun to be with. I liked him from the beginning and carry a lot of affection for him still.”

After 28 years at Princeton University, Dr. Graham joined the Ford Foundation from 1956 to 1957 as director of the Public Affairs Program. It was in this capacity that George Esser first met him and remembers Dr. Graham's help in obtaining a $100,000 grant for the University of North Carolina's Institute of Government. Esser, who was involved in a number of foundation-supported programs on social justice in the south, later went on to become program advisor at the Ford Foundation from 1969–1972. He remembers Dr. Graham as “a man of quiet leadership who knew his field and was devoted to the values of this country.”

In 1958, George Graham moved to the Brookings Institution as director of governmental studies. It was here that he authored his third book, in 1960, called America's Capacity to Govern. He stayed at Brookings until 1967.

Harold Orlans, of Bethesda, Maryland, remembers: “I met George in 1960 when I went to work for him at Brookings. He became and remained my teacher and friend. I learned from him how to survive in Washington and maintain your integrity. He was a good man.”

In 1967, George Graham became a founding fellow and the first executive director of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) where he stayed until 1972.

Daniel Skoler of Bethesda, Maryland, writes: “I am a NAPA fellow whom George sponsored many years ago. After my first try failed, he encouraged me to run again and I was elected. Watching his style, decency, wisdom and dedication was always an inspiration and strength to me—a kind of invisible inspiration and mentorship.”

Eleanor Futrell of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, says: “I worked for him in the late sixties and early seventies at the National Academy of Public Administration and think he was one of the finest people I have ever worked with. His integrity and incredibly hard work were role models for me and probably contributed to his very long and productive life. “

Charlie Henry from Eugene, Oregon, writes: “George Graham was my chief mentor in pursuing my career aim of public service in local government and I am much indebted to him for his sound guidance and other help. After graduation he steered me into a starting position with Public Administration Service, then of Chicago. With this organization, I worked for over five years as a management consultant seeking to improve the performance of several state, city, and county agencies and the Government of Puerto Rico. Then over the next 27 years, I served as the city manager in three cities. George honored me by having me nominated to the National Academy of Public Administration.”

In June 2004, NAPA President C. Morgan Kinghorn and Board Chairman Carl W. Stenberg honored Dr. Graham in Chapel Hill with a Resolution expressing their deepest gratitude and appreciation “for his dedication to the work and mission of the National Academy and commitment to the highest ideals of public service” and for “demonstrating steadfast concern that this nation take every step necessary to ensure a continued strong public service at every level of government.”

The Resolution adds that: “George A. Graham was largely responsible for the development of the project panel approach, in which selected Fellows would serve on panels to guide and carry out individual research projects with the assistance of a small project staff, a model that has withstood the test of time and remains one of the hallmarks of the Academy's strong research capacity.”

In 1984, after achieving emeritus status at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was a principal designer of the school's doctoral programs, George Graham concluded his career as professor of public administration. He was 80 years old.

Roy W. Crawley, second executive director of the National Academy of Public Administration, remembers: “What a long and productive life George had during which he enriched so many lives. He and I had a long and unique relationship at Brookings, the Academy, and Nova. He was friend, mentor, critic, and sponsor. His contributions to the field of public administration are unparalleled. In truth, he became a legend and will indeed be missed.

Doug Yoder in Coral Gables, Florida, writes: “George was a teacher, mentor, and colleague to me during the mid-1970s when we were both at Nova University. His thoughtful commitment to public management as a profession of the highest importance, has been a sustaining inspiration to me throughout my public service career. His own commitment to his family and friends serves as a testimonial to the values he held so dear and to his commitment to the institutions needed to make those values accessible to all. He bridged many generations, from the New Deal years right up to the present, with insights and grace that enabled him to be a part of each generation—a current participant in society with an unerring sense of history. While he was many years my senior, his wit, vitality, and thoughtful listening easily overcame any sense of a generation gap. In these times in particular, our country and the world needs battalions of George Grahams to sort through all that is happening—to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to act in the public interest, as he did all his life. I guess it remains for those of us who were privileged to count George as a friend and mentor, to serve now in his stead and follow his vision to the future.”

George Graham dedicated his life of teaching, research, and public administration to ensuring strong public service at every level of government. This devotion to public service led to a variety of research and administrative positions at the state and federal level, including the Citizens Federal Committee on Education, the Committee on Public Administration of the Social Science Research Council, the U.S. Bureau of the Budget from 1942 to 1945, the chairmanship of the Hoover Commission Committee on Indian Affairs from 1945 to 1946, the Hoover Commission Committee on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government in 1948, the Senate Subcommittee on Ethics in Government in 1951, and as staff director for the second Hoover Commission Task Force on Personnel and Civil Service from 1953 to 1954. Dr. Graham's collection of reports, notes, correspondence, and subject files from his service in most of these assignments may be found at Princeton University.

In 1984, at the age of 80, Dr. Graham retired to Chapel Hill where he later wrote recollections of his life. In 1994, he joined forces with former Brookings scholar Frederic Cleaveland to form the “Plato Loft” group, a bi-weekly discussion forum modeled on Princeton University seminars and composed of former students, colleagues, and retired diplomats. Throughout his life, George Graham was a firm believer in the power and importance of the group.

Former Senate Staff Director Walter Stults, a member of the Plato Loft group and a former Princeton graduate student, recalls: “Professor Graham was one of two people who chose me to be among the first contingent of World War II Fellows to attend the graduate program at the Woodrow Wilson School in 1948–1949. He was such a remarkable person whose character and intelligence influenced so many of his friends and students. For those of us who knew George for many years, his continued interest in current events and his lifelong search for answers was an inspiration.”

Frederic Cleaveland, who was also professor of public administration at both the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and at Duke, adds, “I knew him for more than 50 years as a friend, teacher, and professional colleague. He was always the same gentle and unassuming man—direct and open in his approach to those with whom he was associated. His sincerity, simplicity, honesty, and integrity were so apparent that it attracted attention and support from those around him. As a friend, teacher, and mentor, George continually searched for ways to open new avenues of growth for fellow workers. He helped them expand their ability to master new experiences and thereby become more fulfilled as individuals. Many of us can attest to how George Graham brought us new insights and understanding and we can be profoundly grateful that he has been an important part of our lives.”

Born December 23, 1904, in Cambridge, New York, Dr. Graham received his B.A. from Monmouth College (Illinois) in 1926 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 1930. He married Rosanna Grace Webster in 1930. She died in 1985. There is an annual Creative Writing prize awarded in her name at Monmouth College.

Dr. Graham is survived by his second wife, Elisabeth Childs Rowse Graham, daughter of Harwood L. Childs, a member of the Princeton politics department from 1932–1957, who taught its first classes in propaganda and public opinion (following his 1931–1932 fellowship in Germany), and who founded, in 1936, the Public Opinion Quarterly.

Dr. Graham is also survived by two daughters, Lora Graham Lunt of Potsdam, New York, and Mary Graham Jenne of Scarsdale, New York; a daughter-in-law, Martha Dix Graham (wife of son, Andrew Allen Graham, who died in 2001); 6 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, 7 step children, and 6 step grandchildren.

Writes Bill Flash of Pittsboro, North Carolina: “I worked and taught in the same field, public administration, and met George at annual professional meetings and later in Chapel Hill. George was always most warm and hospitable to me whenever we did encounter one another. His way of life seemed so much what I would like, not only for his scholarship and writing in our field, but most particularly for George as teacher and colleague, his encouraging human-ness to others and his example as a warm and insightful human being. His very life was a tribute to those qualities he shared with us.”