Ernest May, long-time American and international historian at Harvard since 1959, dies at 80.

Ernie May, who taught at Harvard for 55 years, is the intellectual father of countless American foreign relations and international historians, not to mention the European historians and political scientists he taught at the John F. Kennedy School. May was a long-time faculty member and administrator who remained active and whose imprint continued on newly minted PhDs within the past year or two. Methodologically, May encouraged students to think outside the comings and goings in the halls of Foggy Bottom and the White House, and to examine international events as well as public opinion and smaller actors. On top of that, he was an extremely nice guy (from everything I've read and heard), which isn't always a given at academic powerhouses like Harvard or in academia in general.

Ernie May, 1928-2009