Donald J. Maletz ’67

Don died Aug. 31, 2023, in Penn Lake Park in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains. He was 78.

He came to us from Parkland High School in Orefield, Pa. At Princeton, Don was a University Scholar. He wrote his thesis on Soren Kierkegaard for Professor Malcolm Diamond in the religion department. A Woodrow Wilson Society member, Don roomed at 111 Walker Hall, was research assistant to Professor Faulkner, and a member of the Student Christian Association. In August 1968, Don married Maryanne (*71 Cornell *80 Boston College).

After graduation, Don worked for a newspaper then began a Ph.D. in government at Cornell, graduating in 1976. He spent a post-doctoral year at the University of Heidelberg. He later spent a teaching semester at Berlin’s Technical University. Upon his return to the States, Don’s academic career began at Boston College before he moved to the University of Oklahoma, where he taught for 37 years.

For many years Don taught ethics courses as part of an Air Force program contracted with the University of Oklahoma that took him to Japan, Korea, Hawaii, Europe, and U.S. bases. He retired in 2016 and sold his Norman, Okla., home to move back to Pennsylvania, where both he and Maryanne had grown up and where his adult children lived in nearby states.

Don enjoyed classical music, travel in Europe, and OU athletic events. He is survived by Maryanne, daughter Elizabeth, sons Christopher and Andrew, and eight grandchildren.