Nicholas J. Xenos *84

Nick died in Amherst, Mass., March 12, 2025, after a brief acute illness.

Born in New York May 13, 1948, Nick earned his bachelor’s degree at NYU, studying political theory with Arno J. Mayer. After earning a master ’s degree at Michigan and studying at York University in Toronto, in 1984 Nick received his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton, under the direction of Sheldon Wolin.

After two years teaching at Columbia, where he was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Nick joined the political science department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he specialized in political theory. Nick’s books included Scarcity and Modernity and Cloaked in Virtue: Leo Strauss and the Rhetoric of American Foreign Policy. He contributed chapters to numerous books on subjects such as political ethics, politics and economy, refugees, and energy policy.

Nick held editorial positions on polity, democracy, and political theory. He was a member of the Social Science Research Council’s Committee on the Politics of Expert Knowledge, and of the Hendrix College National Advisors on the Liberal Arts and the Future of Democracy in America.

Nick is survived by his wife of 51 years, Lynn Peterfreund; and sons Ezra and Sam.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.