Earl Kline, retired Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the College of Charleston, died July 11, 2010. He was 88.

Kline graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1943, then served in the Army until 1946. In 1947 he received a master’s degree from Vanderbilt, and, from Princeton, he earned a second master’s degree in 1951 and a Ph.D. in politics in 1961.

In 1951, Kline began teaching at The Citadel, then moved to Georgia State University, and, lastly, to the College of Charleston. He chaired the political science departments at all three institutions. While at Charleston, he negotiated exchange agreements with a college in China and a university in Thailand. In 1988, one Chinese university granted him foreign expert status and appointed him Permanent Visiting Professor of Social Science.

Kline was a consultant to educational and business enterprises in the United States and abroad, including China, Thailand, Pakistan, and India. He also conducted many studies for the State of South Carolina, Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and other governments in South Carolina and Georgia.

Kline is survived by his wife, Eleanor, to whom he was married for 60 years.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.


Graduate Class of 1961