Roy H. Ginsberg
Professor Emeritus of Government Roy H. Ginsberg, a leading expert on the European Union, generous teacher, and driving force in the establishment of the College’s international affairs major, died on Saturday, June 20, due to complications of Parkinson’s disease and brain cancer. He was 71.
Roy joined Skidmore in 1986 and served until his retirement in May 2015. Throughout his tenure, he was dedicated to College service, international education, and his students’ development as global citizens. He especially enjoyed placing them at the intersection of history, theory, and practice. Many went on to distinguished careers and richer lives.
As a member of the Skidmore faculty, Roy helped establish the College’s International Affairs Program with support from the U.S. Department of Education and the European Commission. In memory of his father, who served in the U.S. Army of Occupation in Germany after World War II, he endowed the annual Jerome Solomon Ginsberg Award for international affairs majors who have excelled academically. He also received the President’s Award for Leadership and Service and, on the 50th anniversary of the European Union, was chosen by the faculty to deliver the Edwin M. Moseley Faculty Lecture. One of only three Americans at the time, he was awarded the Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration Studies by the European Commission.
Interim Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Natalie Taylor, who is also a member of the Department of Political Science (formerly known as Government), spoke of Roy’s importance to her own career and said Skidmore colleagues were mourning the loss of a trusted friend and mentor.
“Roy was a devoted teacher, an accomplished scholar, and a respected citizen of the College. He was also a committed mentor, offering his encouragement and counsel even a few weeks ago,” she said. “Roy imparted a love for the profession and a love for the College to generations of faculty.”
Rob Resnick ’88, a retired U.S. Army colonel and current president of Skidmore’s Alumni Association, majored in government at Skidmore and served as a student on the committee that hired Roy. He said Roy also remained a friend and mentor to him and many other former students throughout his life. Reflecting on Roy’s retirement in 2015, Resnick described him as an “awesome teacher and mentor” who was always “at the top of his field.”
“He cared about his students, always going the extra mile to help with papers, independent study, internships, grad school, and careers,” Rob wrote. “His priority was always what was best for Skidmore. No one was more generous.”
Born on Sept. 28, 1954, in Baltimore, Roy earned his Ph.D. in international affairs in 1985 from The George Washington University and gained on-the-ground experience in foreign affairs while working for the federal government. In 1981, he was the first American to be granted a fellowship (“stagiaire”) at the European Commission, which enabled him to conduct research in Brussels and Strasbourg for his dissertation.
A widely sought speaker on transatlantic relations, Roy lectured for the U.S. State Department in most western and eastern European countries, both before and after the Cold War. He consulted throughout his career for U.S. federal agencies and their European counterparts. He twice submitted testimony to congressional committees on U.S.-EU relations and briefed then-Ambassador-Designate Stuart Eizenstat and other ambassadors-designate ahead of their Senate confirmations. In 1993-94, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship by the Belgian and U.S. governments, working out of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. He was a visiting professor at SAIS, New York University, Georgetown University, Hamilton College, and the University of Louvain. A founder and chair of the European Union Studies Association of the United States, he was instrumental in attracting funding for the young organization from The Ford Foundation and The German Marshall Fund. He contributed to CNN, C-SPAN, The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, Le Soir, and Polish and Czech television and print media.
Roy authored or co-authored numerous articles and book chapters, as well as six books
on the European Union and the United States, including “Foreign Policy Actions of
the European Community: The Politics of Scale,” “The European Union in International
Politics: Baptism by Fire,” and “Demystifying the European Union: The Enduring Logic
of Regional Integration.”
Active in community service, Roy was a loyal member of the Newcomb Lions Club International.
He created and moderated the Newcomb Foreign Affairs Roundtable, which met during
the summer months for 20 years, bridging local and global education in the heart of
the Adirondacks.
He leaves behind his wife of 37 years, Kirsten Elizabeth Mishkin, who directed Skidmore’s former University Without Walls program; his daughter, Monica Jane Ginsberg ’12, and son-in-law, Eric Gehman; and his brother-in-law, Peter Mishkin.