John P. Roche Collection

Background on John P. Roche

A political scientist, writer, and government consultant, John P. Roche was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 7, 1923, the son of a salesman. After undergraduate study at Hofstra and war-time service in the Air Force, Roche received his doctorate in political science at Cornell in 1949, and embarked upon an academic career. Following several years at Haverford College (1949-1956), he was appointed to the faculty at Brandeis University, eventually becoming chair of his department and then Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A liberal Social Democrat and fervent anti-Communist, Roche's writing and research centered on American foreign policy, constitutional law, and the history of political thought in America, but he maintained a strong interest in the history of the American left generally, and particularly the Socialist and Communist parties. A prolific writer, he was author or editor of more than a dozen books.

In 1961, Roche left Brandeis to pursue a series of fellowships and appointments with such groups as the Rockefeller Foundation and Hudson Institute, and he served as an advisor to the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. He returned to academia in 1973 as Professor on the School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he remained until his retirement. He died from complications of a stroke on May 6, 1994.