Political science prof Rubinstein dead at age 74

Political Science Professor Alvin Rubinstein died on December 18 of complications due to a stroke. He was 74.

After teaching his last class of the semester and his career, Rubinstein suffered a sudden and ultimately fatal stroke on Dec. 6 while commemorating his retirement with friends at the Faculty Club. Rubinstein remained unconscious for nearly two weeks at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, before finally succumbing on Dec. 18.

Throughout his more than 40 years as a faculty member at Penn, thousands of students have graced Rubinstein's classrooms in search of stimulating lectures and academic rigor.

"Frankly, I was pretty terrified of him at first," Political Science Professor Avery Goldstein said, recalling his first class with Rubinstein -- Comparative Communist Politics -- as a Penn undergraduate in the mid-1970s. "He was a pretty imposing teacher. But his class was in part what inspired me to continue with political science."

And even after four devoted decades, Rubinstein's reputation as tough but passionate endured.

"He loved life, and he loved teaching," said his wife, Frankie Rubinstein. "He was a very happy man."

For many years, his International Politics class had been the department's largest and most popular course.

"He was a stimulating, witty and relevant teacher," Political Science Department Chairman Jack Nagel said. "I remember seeing him in the mornings making photocopies of recent materials for his classes. He was always up-to-date."

"He was a vigorous, frank, articulate man," Nagel added. "He was one of Penn's great teachers."

Rubinstein, who also served as a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, was remembered by colleagues and students as not only a dedicated teacher, but also a prolific writer and scholar with an insatiable hunger for knowledge.

Rubinstein was one of the first in his field to study Soviet politics from an internal perspective, specializing in the foreign relations of the former Soviet Union and Russia with the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Rubinstein wrote more than 100 articles on political science and over 20 books, including Moscow's Third World Strategy, which was awarded the Marshall Shulman Prize by the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

In addition to his tenure at Penn, Rubinstein researched in Israel, held fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England and received awards from the Ford, Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, among several others.

"He was a very intellectually alive person," Nagel said.

His colleagues said Rubinstein will be remembered not only for his long list of academic accomplishments, but also for his ageless energy, his honesty and his straightforward approach to his personal and professional life.

"He had a great sense of humor," said Henry Teune, a political science professor who worked with Rubinstein for over 40 years. "He did his own thing."

After his full, illustrious career at the University, from which he also earned both his M.A. and Ph.D., the only task that Rubenstein left unfinished was the grading of final papers for his course on international relations of the Middle East, which a small group of graduate students in the Political Science department completed.

The abruptness of Rubinstein's stroke has made his passing that much more difficult for many to handle. But a memorial service to honor Rubinstein is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. in Houston Hall's Hall of Flags.

Rubinstein's memorial service will be open to all students and faculty.

"He was an active player on campus until the very last minute," Teune said. "So it's hard for people to get used to. It's hard for me to get used to."

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