Dear Public Policy Students,

 

I am sorry to inform you that our colleague Tom Anton passed away three
weeks ago from pneumonia.  He had been battling cancer in recent months.
I am sure many of you have fond memories of how Tom helped you and
guided your education.  We all miss him very much!  

 

There will be a memorial service at Brown in Tom's honor at 1:30 pm,
Wednesday, July 19 at Manning Chapel on the Brown campus.  There will be
a reception immediately following the memorial service at the Taubman
Center for Public Policy.  Please attend if you can make it.

 

Darrell West

 

Tom Anton Obituary

 

Thomas Anton passed away on June 6, 2006, following a battle with
cancer. Professor Anton was the A. Alfred Taubman Professor of Public
Policy and American Institutions, Professor of Political Science, and
founding Director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown
University.  He served as director of the Taubman Center from 1984 to
2000.

 

Professor Anton was born September 28, 1934 in Worcester, Massachusetts.
He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree from Clark
University in 1956 and earned his Ph.D. degree from Princeton University
in 1961.  He served as a doctoral fellow and lecturer at the University
of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1961.  He was an assistant professor of
government and public affairs at the University of Illinois from 1961 to
1967.  From 1967 to 1983, he was an associate and full professor of
political science at the University of Michigan.  During his time at
Michigan, he was acting director of the Institute of Public Policy
Studies from 1973 to 1974 and director of the Intergovernmental Fiscal
Analysis Project from 1978 to 1983.

 

Professor Anton was an internationally renowned political scientist
whose path-breaking studies of federalism and public policy won many
prestigious awards. He was the author or co-author of 14 books and
monographs and over 50 articles in scholarly journals.  Among his most
important books were The Politics of State Expenditures in Illinois
(University of Illinois Press, 1975), Governing Greater Stockholm
(University of California Press, 1975), Federal Aid to Detroit
(Brookings Institution Press, 1983), and American Federalism and Public
Policy:  How the System Works (Random House, 1989).  He was a past
editor of the journal, Policy Sciences.  

 

His book, American Federalism and Public Policy, won the 1989 Gladys M.
Kammerer Award presented by the American Political Science Association
"for the best political science publication in the field of U.S.
national policy." The book presented a "real-politic" approach to
American federalism and described how leaders use "benefit coalitions"
to build support in fragmented political systems.

 

Anton was the recipient of many grants and fellowships.  Among his
grant sponsors were the Ford Foundation, the Bydale Foundation, and the
National Science Foundation. Professor Anton furthermore was the
recipient of the John F. Kennedy Fellowship from the government of
Sweden, the American Philosophical Society Fellowship, the Rackham
Research Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Fellowship.

 

In 2000, he was selected to receive the Distinguished Federalism Scholar
award by the American Political Science Association. The award honored
Professor Anton as a scholar who made significant contributions to the
field of federalism. Professor Anton was an early leader in the
compilation of large data systems to track the flow of funds among
national, state and local governments and was one of the earliest
scholars to utilize geographic displays of such data to reveal patterns
of federal policy. 

 

While at Brown University, Professor Anton was active in a wide range of
public and community service.  He served as Chair of the Board of
Commissioners of the Providence Housing Authority and as
founder-director of The Providence Plan, a non-profit organization
dedicated to community revitalization.  In 1992, he received an
individual recognition award for his contributions to housing policy.
He served the University as Dean of the Faculty in 1990-1991.  In 1991,
he was elected a trustee at Clark University, and in 1995, he became
vice-chair of the Clark University Board of Trustees.

 

Professor Anton is survived by his wife Barbara of Orleans,
Massachusetts and three children:  Lynn Allen and Thomas R. Anton of
Michigan and Leslie Anton of Brewster, Massachusetts.  He had four
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Contributions to honor his
memory can be made to the Thomas J. Anton Fund at the Taubman Center for
Public Policy, 67 George Street, Brown University, Providence, RI
02912-1977.

 

 
Melissa Nicholaus
Administrative Coordinator
Center for Public Policy
Brown University
Box 1977
Providence, RI 02912
Phone:  401-863-2201
Fax:  401-863-2452