Jon Mandaville, professor emeritus of history at Portland State University, died Aug. 5, 2019, at age 81.
Mandaville grew up in an Aramco family complex in Saudi Arabia and finished high school in Beirut, Lebanon. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth in 1959 and a master’s degree in Islamic studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1961.
He earned a master’s degree in 1964 and a Ph.D. in Oriental languages and literature from Princeton in 1969. In 1965 he had joined the history department at Portland State College (which became a university in 1969). He was director of the Middle East Studies Center from 1996 to 2004, where his contributions were described as “invaluable.”
Mandaville’s research and publications focused on the social and legal history of the Middle East since 1500. He specialized in the Ottoman Empire and traveled throughout the Middle East. He was the first director of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies in Sanaa, Yemen.
His tenure at Portland State spanned more than 54 years of scholarly service. He was professor emeritus in the history department and the Middle East Studies Center.
Mandaville is survived by his daughter, Diane.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.