Merle Kling, whose entire academic career was spent in association with Washington University in St. Louis, died on April 8, 2008, at the age of 89. Born in Poland, Merle came to St. Louis at the age of two, attended public schools there, majored in political science at Washington University and, following military service during World War II, returned to complete his doctorate and join the faculty. He quickly acquired a reputation as an outstanding teacher and a person of wise judgment on academic matters. In 1966 he became dean of the faculty and was later named provost, the University's chief academic officer. He retired in 1983.
Merle set a very high intellectual standard for himself. Although he wrote a good deal on comparative politics, mainly on Soviet and Latin American matters, he published relatively little of it: two books and a few articles, of modest professional impact. Nonetheless, he gained considerable reputation among political scientists who came to know him for his wide-ranging intelligence and critical capacity. In 1965, Merle was named editor of the Midwest Journal of Political Science, but resigned when he became dean of the Washington University Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He was elected president of the Midwest Political Science Association in 1968.
As a classroom teacher, Merle had few equals. He believed strongly that political scientists should ground their arguments in empirical data and he would fill blackboards with information so structured that students were virtually compelled, for themselves, to reach the conclusions he thought appropriate. After he became dean, he was known on occasion to lead the faculty with similar pedagogical brilliance. Indeed, few scholars could match Merle's skill in designing analyses so that students not only learned the substantive material of his courses, but came to appreciate the process of close analysis.
Merle's lengthy career at Washington University coincided with the university's rise from an institution of reasonably good quality with a strong medical school, but a mainly local or regional reputation, to one of major national stature with high rankings in many fields. His presence in the department of political science was an important factor in the rapid growth of its reputation during the 1960s, and in his several administrative capacities Merle's initiatives led to major programmatic developments throughout the university. Notable among these developments was the Writers Program, centered on the English department, which brought distinguished poets and novelists to the faculty and greatly enhanced the university as a place intellectual vigor and breadth. During the period of campus unrest associated with the war in Vietnam, Merle's good sense and firm convictions helped greatly to bring the university through with a minimum of scars or lasting bitterness.
Merle was a person of exceptional intellectual range. He was enormously well read, especially in modern fiction, and it was thus highly appropriate that upon his retirement, the university established the Merle Kling Professorship in Modern Letters. He loved to talk about books and writers, often finding instructive connections between the world of the novel and the concerns of political scientists. In the late 1950s, when the writings of C.P. Snow were much in vogue, Merle was particularly enthusiastic about them and published a lengthy essay in the Yale Law Journal analyzing Snow's The Masters, a novel about academic politics.
Merle sometimes seemed almost reclusive, a bit reluctant to let himself go, to expose his thoughts to critical review or venture into uncharted territory. In many ways he was exceptionally local in his experience. Much of what he accomplished he did behind the scenes, screened from the scrutiny of all but a few colleagues or associates. At the same time, however, he was a person with wide acquaintance in the St. Louis civic community where, as among academics, he enjoyed a deserved reputation for wisdom and good judgment. Merle had a lighter side as well. He played a shrewd game of poker, delighted in the theater, enjoyed the Cardinals and an occasional visit to the race track, and could often be seen in the city's better restaurants.
After retirement, Merle enlarged upon these activities, traveling extensively, especially to take in plays in New York and London. He became involved in local politics to some extent and served two years in the appointive position of St. Louis city register. He even left the St. Louis area briefly to serve as interim president of Merce College in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
William H. Danforth, chancellor of Washington University from 1971 to 1995, with whom Merle worked as provost, expressed the essence of Merle's achievement exceptionally well: “In every role, his insights, his clarity of mind, and his wisdom guided his colleagues and students. His balance and good sense protected both academic freedom and academic quality through the late 1960s to the early '70s, and kept Washington University a humane and decent place. More than any other person, he taught me what a university is and how we could all join in making it better.”
