Dr. Matthews, a scholar of politics, dies at 82

Dear Colleagues

I must pass along the sad news that our colleague Donald Matthews passed away this past Saturday at the age of 82.

Don arrived here at the University of Washington in 1976 and chaired the department from 1976-1983. Prior to his arrival, Don was on the faculty at Smith College, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Michigan. He also was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1953. Don became Chair of the department at a critical juncture and is by all accounts most responsible for turning the fortunes of the department around and laying the foundation for the outstanding department that exists today. Don was a major figure in the discipline and is most well known for two important books, "U.S. Senators and Their World", and "Negroes and the New Southern Politics." Indeed, Don, who retired in 1995, still has the highest citation count among our faculty as reported in "The Political Science 400: A Twenty Year Update." Most notable among Don’s numerous awards and honors were Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavior Sciences (1964-5), Guggenheim Fellowship (1980-81), Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1970), Vice President, American Political Science Association (1985-6), and the 14th Annual Faculty Lecturer, University of Washington (1989).

Don was a wonderful friend and mentor to many of us, was an inspirational leader, and provided extraordinary financial support to the department with the Donald R. Matthews Endowment for Excellence in Political Science that provided resources for both graduate fellowships and a Distinguished Professorship. A memorial service is being planned and I will pass along details as they become available.

Steve Majeski

Seattle Times Obituary, Nov. 7th

By Diane Wright
Times Snohomish County Bureau

Two years after he retired from the University of Washington's department of political science, professor Donald Matthews made academic history.

In 1996, he gave the department $814,000, believed to be the largest faculty gift ever made within the College of Arts and Sciences. It provided funding for the Donald R. Matthews Endowment for Excellence in Political Science, which supports graduate fellows and a distinguished professorship.

Colleague David Olson, UW professor emeritus of political science, called him "an enormously productive scholar, a towering intellectual figure who had the ability to administer academic programs."

"In his professional life, he was the same as in his private life," Olson said. "He was an enormously giving individual."

Dr. Matthews, 82, died Saturday at Swedish Medical Center from complications of emphysema. His keen observations on political behavior produced a dozen books, including "U.S. Senators and Their World."

The book, a portrait of the folkways and norms of behavior in the Senate, was greeted with praise from many members of the Senate when it first came out, according to Olson. Then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson called it "a landmark in the study of the Senate."

"He was a political scientist through and through. That was a major part of his life," said Dr. Matthews' former wife, Carmen Matthews. "U.S. Senators and Their World" is more than 40 years old, yet it is still in use in college graduate programs, she said.

Dr. Matthews was an expert often called by national media for his opinions during elections.

But son Christopher Matthews said his father preferred to offer both sides and let the listener decide.

"He wouldn't tell me, his son, his opinions about an issue," Christopher Matthews said. "He would ask me to argue both sides of the debate and to determine what I valued and supported."

Dr. Matthews was born Sept. 14, 1925, in Cincinnati, to Janet and William Matthews. He attended Purdue University before entering the Navy, serving in the Pacific Theater as an officer in World War II. After the war, he went to Princeton University, where he got his Ph.D. in 1953.

He taught at Smith College, the University of North Carolina and the University of Michigan before coming to the UW when "all political-science departments suffered internal fratricide, and this department was no exception," Olson said.

advertising

"Don came as chair in 1976 and he set up the architecture of the department and how it would be governed," Olson said. "Remarkably, it's still in place 30 years later. It introduced civility into the department and led to much greater productivity."

Dr. Matthews was a UW professor from 1976 to 1994, chairing the department from 1976 to 1983.

"Don was a wonderful friend and mentor to many of us," said Stephen Majeski, the department chairman. "Don came to the University of Washington and transformed the department and provided the structure and opportunity for us to become an outstanding department for research, teaching and public service. We reap the rewards even today."

Dr. Matthews also founded the University of Washington/University of Bergen (Norway) exchange program in 1979.

He won many prestigious awards, Olson said. He was a fellow at the Brookings Institution and at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He also had held a Guggenheim Fellowship and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He is survived by his first wife, Maggie Matthews, of Chapel Hill, N.C., and their son, Jonathan Matthews, of Seattle; as well as Dr. Matthews' second wife, Carmen Matthews, of Seattle, and their children, Christopher Matthews, of St. Paul, Minn.; Amy Ryan and her husband, Christopher Ryan, of Providence, R.I.; and his granddaughter, Norah Ryan.

A memorial service is being planned by the UW department of political science for late January. Details on the date, time and location will be posted at www.polisci.washington.edu/index.html.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the University of Washington Foundation Matthews Fund, P.O. Box 353530, Seattle, WA 98195-3530.

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com