Berry College professor and nationally renowned political scholar Peter Augustine Lawler passed away Tuesday.
“For 38 years, Peter has been a vital member of the Berry community and a legendary teacher, mentor and colleague,” said Berry College President Stephen Briggs. “A keen observer of human culture and the human condition, Peter will long be remembered for his teasing and provocative approach to teaching and writing. His passing reminds us of the fragility of this life in which, as Peter taught us, we are destined ‘to both wander and wonder.’”
Lawler was a prolific author and editor of more than 15 books, most recently “American Heresies and Higher Education.” His wide-ranging interests and his acute understanding led to his extraordinary national service and reputation, including his recent appointment as the editor of the distinguished conservative academic journal, Modern Age. His work also has appeared in The National Review, the Weekly Standard and The New Atlantis.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Bioethics, was a recipient of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Excellence and named the George Washington Distinguished Professor of the American Founding, The Society of the Cincinnati.
“Students had easy access to Peter – though not in his memorably messy office. He made time for them, drank many, many cups of coffee with them, listened to them, and formed them with their conversations. Countless students fell in love with political thought and the life of the mind through Peter’s teaching and mentorship,” said Tom Kennedy, dean of the Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
Read more at Berry College News.
Related articles in memory of Peter Lawler.
- Learning from Peter Lawler – The National Review
- A Man Who ‘Stuck With Virtue’ – The American Conservative
- In Fond Memory Of Peter Augustine Lawler – The Federalist
- “A former student remembers his professor, a great thinker.” – Weekly Standard