In memory of Robert Jervis, Honorary Graduate at Ca' Foscari in 2014

Robert Jervis, Professor at Columbia University and among the most prominent scholars in political science, passed away on 9 December. 

On 15 April 2014 Professor Jervis received an Honorary Degree in Comparative International Relations at Ca’ Foscari’s Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies. The honorary degree was conferred to acknowledge “his fundamental contribution to the social sciences, for the variety of research programmes he developed — international relations, political psychology, strategic studies, and systems theory; for his profound analytical capabilities and for his vast influence on both the scholarly world and the policy-making community. A master of cross disciplines and an unparalleled teacher.” 

Professor Jervis was the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, having joined the department of Political Science in 1980. He also taught at University of California and at Harvard. 

Professor Jarvis was co-editor of "Cornell Studies in Security Affairs” — a series published by Cornell University Press — and on the scientific board of many international journals. His work includes Perception and Misperception in International Politics, The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution, System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life, American Foreign Policy in a New Era e Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Fall of the Shah and Iraqui WMD, among many other published books and articles. 

During the Honorary Degree Ceremony at Ca’ Foscari in 2014, Professor Jervis delivered the lecture “Why Intelligence Analysts and Policy Makers Clash”.

The Ca’ Foscari community remembers Professor Jervis with the video of his Honorary Degree Ceremony.