Dr. Jonathan West was a distinguished scholar, educator, and member of our department from 1981 to 2022. His voluminous research and textbooks spanned across government ethics, human resource management, and environmental policy. He directed the graduate program in public administration for his entire career at the University of Miami, teaching and mentoring hundreds of students in the practice of government. He won multiple awards for his research and teaching, including the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society for Public Administration, Section on Ethics and Integrity of Governance, the Luis Glaser Mentorship Award, induction into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, and the Manning J. Dauer Award from the Florida Political Science Association for distinguished research. No award or publication, however, can express Jonathan’s generous spirit or patient kindness, nor the depth of his devotion to his family.
In honor of Dr. West's memory, the university has initiated a memorial fund to provide scholarships and grants to graduate students of the department of Political Science. We thank you for any contribution you can make.
"Dr. West was not just a great professor, but a great mentor, who truly cared for each of his students in and out of the classroom." - Hannah Rosa, Class of 2022
“Dr. Jonathan West was my professor and mentor when I received my Master's Degree in Public Administration at the U. He gave me the opportunity when I wasn’t quite sure where my political science degree would take me, referred me to my first internship, and truly encouraged me on a path that led to an amazing career. If we ever think one person can’t change your life, he did.” - Alina Hudack, City Manager of Miami Beach
“Dr. West remains to be such an inspiration for me. From him, I was able to learn so much applicable material and lessons that I will be using in my professional and personal life. He was extremely motivational and such a good person to talk to. He made a 9AM class interesting and engaging and most importantly, fun. He leaves behind a beautiful legacy and an impact on me, I will never forget about the lessons he taught me.” - Jean Pierre Vilcherrez, Class of 2022
"No award or publication, however, can express Jonathan’s generous spirit or patient kindness, nor the depth of his devotion to his family."
Roger Kanet, Ph.D.
Dr. Roger E. Kanet was Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Miami from 2019-2024. He was also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1997-2024). Dr. Kanet was a leading authority on the politics of Russia, the other Soviet successor states, and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Kanet joined the faculty at the University of Miami in 1997. From 1997 to 2000 he served as Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies. Prior to 1997 Kanet spent 24 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was head of the Department of Political Science and later served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Director of International Programs and Studies (1989-1997). He also taught at the University of Kansas beginning in 1966, and was a joint fellow at the Research Institute on Communist Affairs and Russian Institute at Columbia University.
In his career Dr. Kanet made more than 300 scholarly presentations to universities and various professional and civic organizations in the United States and abroad, edited thirty-eight scholarly books, and published more than 250 scholarly chapters and articles (which combined have appeared in ten languages). Among other honors, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), the Distinguished Scholar Award of the Post-Communist Studies Section of the International Studies Association (2017), and is listed in Strathmore’s Who’s Who: Registry and Global Network for Outstanding Professionals.
Kanet’s teaching focused on communist and post-communist Europe, Soviet and Russian foreign policy, European and global security, democratization and nationalism, and U.S. foreign and security policy. He received numerous teaching awards during his career, including the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1981).
His non-academic experience included consultancies for United States Information Agency, the U.S. State Department, and the Institute for Public Policy Development. Kanet also served on advisory committees for the Hudson Institute’s Center for Central European and Eurasian Studies and the University of Maryland’s East–South Project, and on the Board of Directors of the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA). His professional memberships included the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Political Science Association, the International Studies Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, among others.
Roger was a source of inspiration to many in the field of international relations, admired for being an enthusiastic and generous mentor, teacher, and colleague in addition to his academic scholarship, sharp wit, and infinite curiosity. Despite winning numerous awards across his career, he was most proud of the progress of his former doctoral students, of whom he had mentored more than 50.
In commemoration of Prof. Kanet’s life please consider a donation in his name to Doctors Without Borders.
