Photo Courtesy of Aaron Haesaert
Rebecca Gagnon ’23 & Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25
Features Editors
Jon Western, former vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculty and Carol Hoffmann Collins ’63 Professor of International Relations, died on Jan. 29, 2022. His memory lives on through his wife, sons, students and colleagues.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College, Western went on to earn his Master in Public Policy at the University of Michigan and his doctoral degree from Columbia University. Before arriving at Mount Holyoke College, he taught at Columbia University and George Washington University. Western also served at the United States Institute of Peace as a Peace Scholar-in-residence and the coordinator of the Dayton Upgrade Project. In these two positions, he directed and developed a peace-building organization in Bosnia. In 1992, he worked as an analyst in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research during the Bosnian War.
In 2000, Western joined the Mount Holyoke faculty as an assistant professor in the Five Colleges and then became a full professor, teaching at all institutions. Sixteen years later, Western was appointed vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty. He served in these two roles until July of 2020, when he stepped down.
In President Sonya Stephens’ announcement to the community about Western leaving these positions, she discussed Western’s role in the Mount Holyoke community. “[As a] strong advocate for the Mount Holyoke faculty and a deeply valued thought partner to me and to his colleagues in the leadership team, [Western] has worked closely with the Board of Trustees, with valued alums and donors to promote academic priorities, with our faculty governance representatives, department chairs, and with many faculty, individually and in other groupings, to shape new academic departments and to support curricular review,” Stephens wrote. “A friend and longtime colleague to many faculty and staff, [Western] has demonstrated throughout his tenure as dean of faculty a commitment to stewardship of the College and its academic excellence, alongside a deep loyalty to mission and to those he represents.”
After stepping down, Western took a sabbatical to reengage in his scholarship in the field of International Relations and human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this, he looked forward to spending more time with his family.
The people who worked closely with him recalled his ambitions for his time after removing himself from the administrative positions.
“When [Western] stepped down as dean in the summer of 2020, he planned to work on his book manuscript on Dorothy Fosdick, a Smith [College] grad[uate] who went on to become the first woman to hold a key policy position at the U.S. Department of State,” Dorothy E. Mosby, interim dean of faculty, vice president for academic affairs and Mary E. Woolley professor of Spanish, recalled.
In 2020, Western, alongside six Mount Holyoke students, uncovered that Michael P. Farris, a Christian conservative lawyer, played a crucial role in a lawsuit created by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attempting to disqualify votes for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. This research has since been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and the BBC.
In addition to his essential roles within the College community and extensive academic research, Western also published and co-edited several books. He is the author of “Selling Intervention and War: The Presidency, the Media and the American Public,” published in 2005. He is also the co-editor of “The International Community and State-building: Getting Its Act Together?,” published in 2012, and of “Global Giant: Is China Changing the Rules of the Game,” published in 2009. Outside of his academic work, Western worked with the Northampton Robotics Team as a lead mentor.
Eva Paus, a Mount Holyoke professor of economics who co-taught courses with Western and co-edited a book with him, stated that Western was one of a kind.
“Since he started at Mount Holyoke in 2000, I have come to deeply appreciate his outstanding qualities as a scholar-teacher, as a cosmopolitan thinker who was passionate about human rights and a just global order, as an administrator who understood the need for a liberal arts college to rise to the demands of our time, and as a good friend who was supportive, willing to disagree and fun,” Paus said. “I will miss Jon dearly. He leaves a hole in our hearts and our lives.”
Mosby shared this sentiment, remembering Western’s professional and personal vitality.
“He embodied the Maya Angelou quote, ‘People [will forget] what you said, … but people will never forget how you made them feel,’” Mosby stated. “[Western] made people feel seen and heard. Relationships and personal connections meant a great deal to him and it was always touching to know that he listened and that you mattered.”
The Mount Holyoke community mourns the loss of this central figure, as a teacher, mentor and friend. Western is survived by his wife, Jenifer, and sons, Charley and Alex.