Rupert Emerson

Rupert Emerson (August 20, 1899, in Rye, NY – February 9, 1979, in Cambridge, MA) was a professor of political science and international relations. He served on the faculty of Harvard University for forty-three years and served in various U.S government positions.

After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1917–1918, he received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1922, then a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics in 1927. He was a member of the American Political Science Association, the Association for Asian Studies (president, 1952–1953), the African Studies Association (president, 1965–1966), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Emerson was on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 until his retirement in 1970. A specialist on nationalism in Asia and Africa, he often guest lectured at universities in East Africa. He was an instructor at Harvard from 1927–1931; assistant professor, 1931–1938; associate professor of political science, 1938–1946; professor of international relations, 1946–1970; emeritus professor of political science, 1970–1979. He was a lecturer at Yale University, 1937–1938; a visiting professor of political science at University of California, Berkeley, 1953–1954, and 1973, at University of California, Los Angeles, 1965–1971, and at the American University in Cairo, 1972.

He served in various U.S. government posts in Washington, DC, 1941–1946. He served as a constitutional advisor to the Korean government in 1962. He also served as a trustee of the Institute of Pacific Relations.

Awards Guggenheim Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 1953–1954. Ford Foundation grant, Africa, 1960–1961.

Personal His parents were William Key Bond and Maria Holmes (Furman) Emerson. He married Alla Julievna Grosjean on September 14, 1925; they had 4 children: William Key Bond Emerson, Nina Ule Emerson, Natasha Maria Emerson, Rupert Allan Emerson.