Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr., international relations expert and professor emeritus, has died at 89

Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr., 89, of Wayne, professor emeritus of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, founder of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, former presidential adviser, onetime professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and author, died Friday, Nov. 17, of heart failure at his home.

An articulate expert on international relations, crisis management, homeland security, missile defense, space strategy, and other global concerns, Dr. Pfaltzgraff was a member of President Ronald Reagan’s defense advisory team in the 1980s and briefed President George H.W. Bush on foreign policy in the 1990s.

He founded the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis in Massachusetts in 1976 and earlier was a senior research staffer at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute. He went on to advise government officials and corporate executives, organize public forums and seminars, and publish reports and books on political economics, government-industrial relations, and other subjects.

He worked with the Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies, World Affairs Council, and other groups. He lectured around the world and served on the Department of State’s International Security Advisory Board from 2006 to 2009 and the Naval War College Board of Advisors from 2011 to 2018.

In 2002, he helped establish and was cochair of the Independent Working Group that examined missile defense and related issues. “He was more than an educator,” Richard Shultz, director of the International Security Studies Program at Tufts, said in an online tribute. “He was a guiding force, a teacher, practitioner, thought leader, and policy influencer in the field of international security.”

Dr. Pfaltzgraff left Penn for Tufts in Medford, Mass., in 1971 and retired in 2021 as the Fletcher School’s Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of International Security Studies. For 50 years, he was a tireless mentor, colleagues said, and served on more doctoral committees than anyone. Many of his students went on to careers in foreign service and security intelligence.

He also lectured at the College of Europe in Belgium, National Defense Academy in Japan, and University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He was an honorary professor at Panteion University in Greece, and officials at Panteion and Fletcher established endowed chairs in his name. He was an assistant professor of political science at Penn before Tufts.

In a online tribute, a colleague called Dr. Pfalzgraff “a scholar of immense knowledge and range, sheer unstoppable energy, and a true devotion to the field and to the many, many students whose perspectives he broadened and shaped.”

Dr. Pfaltzgraff wrote dozens of articles and papers on international topics, and collaborated with his wife, Diane, and others on countless projects. He coauthored the popular Contending Theories of International Relations in 1971, and he and longtime partner Jacquelyn K. Davis cowrote Anticipating a Nuclear Iran: Challenges for U.S. Security and Coalition Management and Escalation Control in a Multinuclear World.

“He was serious and paid attention to detail,” said his son Rob. “He was dedicated to his students.”

Robert Louis Pfaltzgraff Jr. was born June 1, 1934, in Yeadon. He was studious and well-read as a young man, and his attention was drawn to World War II and other international events of the time.

He graduated from Yeadon High School in 1952 and Swarthmore College in 1956. He earned a master’s degree in international business at Penn’s Wharton School, a master’s degree in international relations at Penn, and a doctorate in political science at Penn. In 1968, he earned a fellowship at Penn from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

He met fellow professor Diane Kressler at the Foreign Policy Institute in Philadelphia, and they married in 1967. They had daughter Suzanne and son Robert III, and lived in Wayne. His wife died in 2009.

Away from work, Dr. Pfaltzgraff enjoyed gardening, classical music, and model trains. He and his wife traveled the world and hosted parties for ambassadors and other social notables. His family marveled that he knew everything there was to know about Winston Churchill.

He commuted weekly between Wayne and Massachusetts for years, and was quoted often in The Inquirer on issues such as U.S.-Russia relations, the future of Iraq, and the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission.

Shultz, from Tufts, in his online post said: “For countless students, he was more than an instructor. He was a thoughtful mentor, offering considerate attention and leaving a permanent impact.”

In addition to his children and partner, Dr. Pfaltzgraff is survived by a grandson, a brother, and other relatives.

Private services were held earlier.

Donations in his name may be made to the Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr. Professorship in International Security, Tufts University, 160 Packard Ave., Medford, Mass. 02155.