It is with great sadness that we report the death of James S. Pacy, professor emeritus of political science. Jim died at his home in Burlington, Vermont, on April 21, 2008, of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 77. Jim, of proud Hungarian descent, was born in Caledonia, Ontario, on August 17, 1930. His family emigrated to Manville, New Jersey, when he was two years old. Manville, at the time the company town of asbestos manufacturer Johns-Manville, was an ethnically diverse community just a short drive up from Princeton but in an entirely different world. His hometown was the topic of many a reminiscence and story told by Jim over the years. Manville, for Jim, was always a reminder of the importance of home, ethnic ties, and community. For him, that humble background would lead to greater things.
In 1952, Jim earned his undergraduate degree in history from Lebanon Valley College. He also earned an MA degree in history from the University of Missouri in 1956. But his love was political science and international relations, which culminated in his Ph.D. at American University in 1969, where he also received the Pitman Potter Medal in International Law. During his graduate years, he received a fellowship at Harvard University, where he studied under Prof. Hans Morgenthau of the University of Chicago, the leading scholar of realism in international relations.
Jim was a veteran of our armed services. From 1952–1956, he served in a variety of military capacities, especially at the U.S. Air Force “filter center” in Fargo, North Dakota. His chief assignment was to tour the region, training civilians in the identification of Soviet aircraft. Such was his prowess on the job that not a single Russian plane ever penetrated North Dakota airspace. More importantly, North Dakota was the home of his future wife, Ruth West Pacy. In 1956, after his discharge, Jim volunteered for service as an interpreter in processing Hungarian refugees at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.
Starting in 1957, Jim worked in Washington, D.C., first at the National Federation of Wildlife, where he was co-editor of The Conservation Directory, then at the Special Operations Research Office (SORO) at American University, directed by the esteemed Prof. Harold Gosnell, one of the pioneering scholars of the Chicago school of behavioralism. Through those years, Jim pursued his graduate studies while supporting his young family.
In 1965, Jim joined the faculty of Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, where his reputation as a skilled teacher quickly grew. Westminster was the site of Winston Churchill's famous “iron curtain” speech in 1946; for his part, Jim was a lifelong member of the Churchill Society. On a lark at an annual meeting of the APSA, Jim responded to a job posting by the University of Vermont. He met with two faculty members—professors Raul Hilberg, the noted Holocaust scholar, and Jay Gould—who urged his immediate hiring. From 1967 on, UVM would be his home until his retirement in 1993.
At UVM, Jim Pacy proved to be a hire of very great merit. As at Westminster, he quickly established a reputation as one of the best teachers on campus. His classes on international relations, diplomacy, and international organization were always in great demand. A small testament: his class on international organization was always over-subscribed and regularly filled the largest lecture halls on campus. In the summer of 1976, as the Montreal Olympics were underway, he offered his students a special treat: a course called “Politics and International Sports.” Jim was beloved by his students, entertained them in his home, and kept in contact with many of them over the years. He served as the faculty adviser to the Warren R. Austin Model United Nations Club, as UVM's Foreign Service adviser, and as campus coordinator of the State Department's Diplomat-in-Residence program. A strong supporter of the UVM men's hockey team and a season ticketholder, Jim served as chair of the university's Athletic Council and as faculty NCAA representative. In 1985, he was honored by UVM with the George V. Kidder Award. The Kidder Award is the highest faculty honor on campus, determined by distinguished service to the university by vote of the alumni association.
His scholarly research mainly focused on diplomats and their activities, with publications in World Affairs, Foreign Service Journal, Eastern European Quarterly, Asian Affairs, Polish Review, Diplomacy, and Statecraft, as well as a number of contributions to a variety of edited volumes. Jim was also the co-editor, with Prof. Alan Wertheimer, of Perspectives on the Holocaust: Essays in Honor of Raul Hilberg. Perhaps his most important scholarly contribution was his co-authored study of diplomats of the Baltic “captive nations” with Prof. James T. McHugh: Diplomats Without a Country: Baltic Diplomacy, International Law, and the Cold War.
In his later years, Jim was a key participant in the Public Members Association of the Foreign Service, which advises the secretary of state on ambassadorial and other diplomatic appointments and promotions. He would rise to become vice president of the association and serve as a member of its board of directors. He also served on the council of consultants to the American Hungarian Foundation in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Jim was a man of great wit, warmth, and humor, the latter often at his own expense. Jim was fond, for example, of telling new colleagues this story. Soon after his arrival at UVM, his parents visited. He told them he would be able to show them around only on Tuesday and Thursday, since he taught the other three days of the week. His mother gently patted his arm, and told him: “Don't worry Jimmy. No one back in Manville has to know that you only have a part-time job.” However his work at UVM might be measured, it was a job and profession he loved and cherished.
In addition to Ruth, his beloved wife of 54 years, Jim is survived by their daughter Laura Echevarria of Atlanta, son Ben of Burlington, their spouses, and three grandchildren of whom he was extremely proud.
