Frederick Sherwood Dunn

Frederick Sherwood Dunn (June 10, 1893 – March 17, 1962) was an American scholar of international law and international relations. After working as a legal officer at the U.S. Department of State, he went into academia and taught at Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, and Princeton University, publishing several books during his career. He was founder and a director of both Yale's Institute of International Studies and the Center of International Studies at Princeton. He founded the journal World Politics and was chairman of its editorial board until 1961. He then went to Princeton University, from where he graduated in 1914 with a Bachelor of Letters degree, followed by the New York University School of Law, from where he earned a Doctor of law degree in 1917.

Legal career Upon returning to the United States, Dunn began practicing law in Washington, D.C., in 1920. and then married, Eliza Gordon Woodbury. and she also went by the name Gordon.

Scholar of international law While in State Department positions, two of which involved international claims commissions, Dunn began thinking about the factors behind how the claims were decided and how they often went beyond legal considerations.

Scholar of international relations

In 1935, Dunn went to Yale University, where he became a professor of international relations. Dunn urged institute members to write with clarity and to keep their books short.

Regarding the causes of war, Dunn argued that "the origin of wars is to be found ... in the minds ... of men". He maintained that ignorance and dissatisfaction were what gave rise to war, and advocated for a United Nations that could contribute to world peace through provision of education and raising living standards. During 1948 and 1949 Dunn was a U.S. delegate to UNESCO general conferences in Beirut and Paris. and who thought that the institute should do more historical, detached analysis rather than focus on current issues and recommendations on policy. In addition there was some personal animosity involved, related to Griswold believing that institute members had argued against his receiving tenure.

In April 1951, Dunn and five of his political science colleagues – Percy Corbett, Gabriel Almond, Klaus Knorr, William Kaufmann, and Bernard C. Cohen – left Yale en masse and went to Princeton. The news of the shift from Yale to Princeton made the front page of The New York Times; The President of Princeton, Harold W. Dodds, used a metaphor from American football to summarize the events: "Yale fumbled and Princeton recovered the ball."

Retirement and death Dunn retired from Princeton in July 1961. The Diplomatic Protection of Americans in Mexico (Columbia University Press, 1933) Peaceful Change: A Study of International Procedures (Council on Foreign Relations, 1937) The Absolute Weapon: Atomic Power and World Order [contributor] (Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1946) War and the Minds of Men (Council on Foreign Relations, 1950) Peace-making and the Settlement with Japan (Princeton University Press, 1963)