Erik Nikolaus Valters ’53

Erik Valters, who came to Princeton from Innsbruck U. as an exchange student in 1951, died Mar. 6, 1996.

Born in Riga-Hagensberg, Latvia, Erik prepared at Classical Federal Gymnasium in Vienna, Austria. Here he studied politics, was associated with the Bureau of Student Aid and Employment, and was a member of the Chess Club. He joined the German Club and belonged to the Foreign Student Assn.

Back at Innsbruck U., Erik received the interpreter's diploma in English in spite of, he joked, his New Jersey accent. He returned to the U.S. in 1956 and was employed by the United Nations staff as an information officer. He went on to become chief, central progammes service, for U.N. Radio, and in 1965 he received his MA in public law and government at Columbia. That year he married the former Suzanne Fitts, who had graduated from Boston U. and had worked at the U.N. In 1970, Erik earned his PhD from Columbia's department of political science and was promoted to assistant to the assistant secretary general for public information. We regret Erik's death and that he was with us for too short a time. Our sincere condolences to Suzanne and daughter Christine in their loss. Erik's good humor on campus enabled him to mix well with us "quaint Americans."

The Class of 1953