Alan Rosenthal, prominent Rutgers professor of political science from 1966 to 2013 and long-term director of its Eagleton Institute, died of cancer July 10, 2013, in his Princeton home. He was 81.
After graduating from Harvard in 1953, Rosenthal served in the Army. He then earned an M.P.A. from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School in 1958 and a Ph.D. in politics in 1961. Author of more than a dozen books and innumerable papers, he was regarded as the nation’s foremost scholar of state legislatures.
According to his New York Times bylined obituary, “He championed a belief that government could be a force for good, and argued — despite public cynicism — that democracy was not broken.” He studied all 50 states, and worked for change in 35.
Rosenthal was instrumental in the development of the National Conference of State Legislatures and worked closely with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation and the Council of State Governments. He served on the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, chaired the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission, and also chaired the New Jersey Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ethical Standards.
He is survived by his wife, Lynda Kresge; four children from his marriage to Lavinia Lamont; and eight grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.