Harold K. Jacobson
Harold K. Jacobson, professor emeritus of political science at the University and former director of the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research (ISR), died Aug. 13 at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital of complications following surgery. He was 72.
A specialist in the field of international politics, Jacobson played a leading role in the creation of the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change program at the U-M. He served as acting director of the ISR from 1992–1995, and as interim associate vice president for international affairs at the U-M from 1990–1992. He also served as president of the International Studies Association and vice president of the International Political Science Association.
“Jake was an accomplished and skilled academic administrator, a beloved teacher at all levels, and a scholar who did as much as anyone to re-establish linkages between the study of international law and organization, and of world politics,” said William Zimmerman, director of the Center for Political Studies at ISR.
Jacobson was a member of the Social Science Research Council’s Committee for Research on Global Environmental Change and the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council’s Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change. He was the convening lead author of the 1994–96 second scientific assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Jacobson is survived by his wife, Jean; his brother Bruce (Georgia) Jacobson of Valrico, Fla.; his children, Knute (Rosemary) Jacobson of Richland, Mich.; Eric Jacobson of Overland Park, Kan.; Kristoffer Jacobson of Philadelphia, Pa.; Nils (Marguerite) Jacobson of Ann Arbor; and grandchildren Peter, Paul, John, and Matthew Jacobson of Richland, Mich.
From News and Information Services
Wilma Steketee Bean
Long-time Michigan League manager Wilma Steketee Bean died in Grand Rapids Aug. 4 at 90.
Bean, who retired in 1977 after 28 years of service, worked first as food service manager and then as assistant manager before being named League manager in 1956. Financial management was her strength. Those skills proved invaluable during the years of transition in the 1960s and early 1970s, when the League lost its place as the center of women’s activities and had to forge a new role on campus.
Bean will be most fondly remembered, however, as the founder of the League’s International Night dinners, which introduced Ann Arborites to the cuisines of different lands at a time when ethnic restaurants were virtually unknown in the city. Together she and chef Orma Metzger compiled a file of more than 2000 recipes, many of which are still in use at the League today.
A tribute from the League’s Board of Governors notes, “We will remember Wilma Steketee for her unique ability to turn vision into reality. The beauty of the building and the League’s continued existence is largely built on the foundations she laid.”
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