Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Hoskins, Halford Lancaster, 1891-1967
Halford L. Hoskins (1891-1967), a well-known political scientist and historian, was instrumental in the establishment of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, serving as its first dean from 1933 to 1944. | |
Hoskins was born in Carmel, Indiana, on March 25, 1891.He attended Earlham College, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1913.In 1915, he married Edna Alice Charles, with whom he had two children. Hoskins continued his studies, receiving his master of arts degree in 1921 and his doctorate in 1924 from the University of Pennsylvania. | |
In 1920, Hoskins joined the Tufts faculty as an assistant professor of History. In 1924 he was appointed Dickson Professor of History and became the department's head the following year. He held that position until 1933, when he was made dean and professor of Diplomatic History at the newly founded Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. | |
Hoskins left Tufts in 1944 to become a founder and director of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. From 1949 to 1962 he held the position of senior specialist in international relations for the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress and adjunct professor of Middle East Studies at American University's School of International Service. In 1962, he became full professor at American University, while working with the Center for Strategic Studies until his retirement in 1966. | |
Hoskins authored numerous books concerning diplomatic history and foreign policy, as well as contributing to the Collier's Encyclopedia Yearbook and the Dictionary of American Biography. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Political Science Association, and the Middle East Institute. | |
Following his first wife's death in 1953, Hoskins married Janina Wojcicki. His daughter, Alice Cecilia Franklin, received a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts in 1938.Hoskins died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 1967. | |
Source: VF | |
Subject terms: |