Caroline J. Beeson *82

Caroline Beeson died July 24, 2018, at the age of 68. After a career assisting Near Eastern-U.S. business interests, she devoted several years to charitable activities.

Beeson graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in South Asian languages from Cornell. In 1976 she earned a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and in 1982 she received a Ph.D. in Near Eastern studies from Princeton. Hindi, Urdu, and Persian were among the languages she knew.

After Princeton, Beeson was director of South Asian Affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., and administered the U.S.-India Business Council. In this effort, she traveled around the world many times. In the presidential administration of President George H.W. Bush, she managed advisory business councils for the U.S. Small Business Administration until 1992.

Beeson then devoted several years to charitable activity, after which she moved to Southern California and continued her activities in political and charitable affairs, raising funds and mentoring students at the new School of Law at the University of California, Irvine. She also won many running prizes for her age group.

She is survived by a brother, a sister, three nieces, and her former husband, John-Dag Wilkinson *82.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.