Lawrence D. Longley

Lawrence D. Longley, Political Science Scholar and Political Activist
Lawrence D. Longley, professor and scholar in political science, died at Cherry Meadows Hospice in Appleton, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, March 20, 2002.
The cause of death was esophageal cancer, his wife said.
Mr. Longley spent his entire professional career teaching in the Government Department of Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, joining the faculty in 1965. His teaching and scholarship focused on American political institutions, especially the presidency and the presidential selection process, congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He produced prolific scholarship in books, articles and monographs on these subjects. Professor Longley was best known for his expertise and authoritative knowledge of the Electoral College, which he believed was a fatally flawed institution that should be abolished. His research on this subject resulted in several books on presidential selection. He was the recipient of two distinguished Fulbright awards, first as the Fulbright Commission John Marshall Chair in American Politics at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, during 1994-95, and again as the Thomas Jefferson Chair in American Politics at Katholieke Universitat Nijmegen in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 2000. He used these opportunities to broaden international understanding of American political systems and their relationship to those in other countries by extending his lecture circuit to Oxford, Rome, Valencia, Barcelona, Brno, Prague, Leiden, Dresden and Warsaw and Krakow.
In addition to his teaching and research, Professor Longley was active at all levels of Democratic Party politics ranging from the county organizer and campaigner to active participation on the Democratic National Committee from 1989-2000. He also served as a Democratic elector for Wisconsin in 1988 and again in 1992. While remaining deeply committed to Democratic Party values, he supported the presidential campaign of John B. Anderson in 1980 as the director of the campaign in Wisconsin. Mr. Longley used his first hand political participation both in his research and in enhancing his role as an educator.
Mr. Longley also promoted both rigorous scholarship and international cooperation through professional organizations. He developed the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association and the Research Committee of Legislative Specialists within the International Political Science Association. This latter group and its worldwide network of scholars and parliamentarians were the foundation for conferences in electoral development and parliamentary systems, focusing especially on newly democratizing countries and those undergoing regime change. With Central Europe as a starting point, RCLS conferences encompassed scholarly exchange among politicians and practicing parliamentarians from Western Europe, the Balkan Countries, the Middle East and North Africa. Through this medium and via his individual guest lectures, Mr. Longley convened professionals from both long-established democracies and those undergoing change. Conference sites included Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, St. Petersburg and Cairo.
Mr. Longley was born November 12, 1939 in Bronxville, New York, to Henry N. and Effie D. Longley. He received the A.B. degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University. He is survived by his wife, Judith, and by two daughters, Rebecca Longley of Durham, North Carolina, and Susan Packal of Germantown, Maryland.
The funeral service will be 11 AM, Saturday, March 23, 2002 at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 400 E. College Avenue, Appleton, Wisconsin with the Rev. Patrick Twomey and the Rev. Arthur K. D. Kephart co-officiating. Viewing and visitation will be 2PM until 8 PM on FRIDAY at the Funeral Home and again SATURDAY at the church from 9:30 AM until the time of service. Interment will be Saturday at 2PM at The Historic Riverside Cemetery. A memorial service will follow at Lawrence University at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please direct your memorials to a scholarship prize fund being established at Lawrence University.
WICHMANN FUNERAL HOME
537 North Superior Street
Appleton WI (920)739-1231
www.wichmannfuneralhome.com