Maxwell Professor Emeritus G. Matthew Bonham remembered
August 22, 2019 | SU News Staff
G. Matthew Bonham, professor emeritus of political science
in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University,
died on Aug. 14.
A native of Peoria, Illinois, Bonham earned a bachelor’s degree in
political science from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in political science
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught at the University of
California, Berkeley and American University before joining the faculty of
Syracuse University, where he taught for 25 years.
At Maxwell, Bonham was instrumental to the creation and
development of the International Relations Program as a separate
interdisciplinary endeavor, and he served as its founding chair and director.
His research interests included public diplomacy, foreign policy decision
making, international political communications, and U.S. foreign policy in the
Islamic world.
In the
mid-1990s, Bonham established the Maxwell-in-Washington program to create new
experiential and academic opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate
students of international relations in the nation’s capital. Later, Bonham was also instrumental in the creation of a new
degree program that prepares students for careers in public diplomacy,
comprised of a Master’s in International Relations from the Maxwell School and a
Master’s in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public
Communications at Syracuse University.
He is
survived by his wife, Martha; two children, Michael
(Hollin) Bonham and Catherine (Lawrence) Keating; his two grandsons, Jack and
Will Keating; and his brother, Martin (Maria) Bonham.
A
memorial service will be held on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Fairchild
& Meech DeWitt Chapel, 3690 Erie Blvd East in
DeWitt, New York.
Memorial
donations may be made to support scholarships for students enrolled in the
Maxwell-in-Washington programs. Donations can be made online here, or mailed to The
Public Diplomacy Fund, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 200 Eggers
Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1010. Checks may be made payable to Syracuse
University with a note directing the gift to the Public Diplomacy Fund in honor
of Matthew Bonham.
“Matt
was an outstanding faculty member and a great citizen of the Maxwell School,”
says Dean David Van Slyke. “He was extraordinarily committed to teaching and
mentoring his students, who have gone on to serve the public good around the
world. What a fitting tribute to Matt that his family has chosen to continue
the work he started by supporting future international relations scholars at
the Maxwell School.”