NIU mourns death of Morton Frisch,
renowned political scientist, teacher

by Tom Parisi

Morton J. Frisch was a decorated soldier who fought in one of the most important battles of World War II. Later, he authored books in the field of American political theory and traveled the world as a sought-after scholar.

But Frisch was perhaps most accomplished in the classroom, where he left a deep impression on thousands of students over the course of more than five decades.

Frisch spent the majority of his academic career in NIU’s political science department. Arriving in 1964, he founded the now nationally recognized graduate program in political philosophy. He retired from full-time duties in 1992, but continued to write, lecture and teach, completing his final graduate seminar in December.

Frisch, 83, died Dec. 24, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital. Family members, friends and former students had spent the previous weeks at his side. A memorial service celebrating his life and work is being planned for February on campus at NIU.

“For Mort, teaching political philosophy wasn’t a job. It was a way of life,” said his friend and colleague Gary Glenn, an NIU political scientist. Many of Frisch’s students have gone on to posts in government, with leading think tanks and as university scholars.

“No one who took one of his graduate seminars on political philosophy wanted to miss the next one he taught,” wrote former student Matt Franck, political science chair at Radford University in Virginia, in a tribute read at Frisch’s Dec. 26 funeral service.

“From him we learned to read Montesquieu and Aristotle, to enter the labyrinth of Plato’s thought, to appreciate the statesmanship of Alexander Hamilton, to love our country more intelligently,” Franck added. “But Dr. Frisch was a man of decided opinions, and his writ ran to many subjects. And so we also learned to appreciate the wonderfulness of the Chicago Cubs, the delights of a good poached fish, and the unquestionable greatness of the movies ‘Zulu’ and ‘The Sand Pebbles.’ ”

NIU Ph.D. candidate Halima Khan took two seminars taught by Frisch in 2006. “He taught for the benefit of students, not for the benefit of himself,” she said, noting that Frisch had respiratory difficulties and brought an oxygen tank to class this fall.

Frisch’s students also recalled his avuncular nature and love of conversation. “Mort used to have spaghetti dinners for grad students,” said Laurie Bagby, a political scientist at Kansas State University. She credits Frisch for having a profound impact on her life and work.

“I also have him to thank for the guy I married,” she added, noting that she and her husband met at one of Frisch’s gatherings.

Frisch was raised in the Hyde Park area of Chicago’s South Side and went into the U.S. Army Air Forces shortly after America entered World War II. He served in anti-aircraft defense of Britain. While in transit to Brussels, his unit was redeployed to fight in the pivotal Battle of the Bulge, the last major Nazi offensive of the war.

The battle began in mid-December 1944 in the Ardennes Forest along the German/Belgian border. Hampered by cold, snow and fog, Allied forces suffered heavy casualties, in part because the weather prevented air support. The fog lifted on Christmas Day, enabling American aircraft to come to the rescue of surrounded troops that had been struggling to hold their ground.

“It is ironic that my father died on Christmas Eve, partly because of how he felt about this time of the year,” said his son, Rabbi Seth Frisch of Philadelphia. He recalled that his father had been put in charge of a small band of men and feared they would not survive the battle. They succeeded in defending their position until the fog lifted. Morton Frisch later received the Belgian Croix De Guerre for heroism under fire as well as other American decorations for his service.

“He would take out the Croix De Guerre often on Christmas and show it to us all,” Seth Frisch said. “My father felt that he had been given a new lease on life. It became a defining moment for him to have survived that battle. Subsequently, he acted in accordance with that. He never backed down from adversity and always stood his ground.”

After the war, Frisch earned a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he studied under renowned political philosopher Leo Strauss. He received his doctorate at Pennsylvania State University in 1953. He taught for more than a decade at the College of William and Mary and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Stockholm before coming to NIU.

“He came here because he wanted to be on the ground floor of building a program in political philosophy,” colleague Glenn said. “He was a hard worker and a fierce fighter for what he believed in.”

Frisch’s work in American political thought was in defense of the Constitution and the intentions of the founders. His work won him visiting appointments at the University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Virginia, Oxford University, Knox College and two Fulbright Fellowships at Korea University.

He was the author and editor of eight books. His most recent book, on the great Hamilton-Madison debate of 1793 over the constitutional dimensions of foreign policy, will be published this spring.

“My dad thought there was a right way to do everything, and from an early age we would talk about those guiding principles,” said his son, Mark Frisch of Wilmette.

“There was no wishy-washiness with dad,” he added, although his father was at the same time a gentle person. “He always tried to listen carefully to what you were saying and offer gentle but very persuasive arguments if he disagreed. You always knew you had a friend and an ally. You always knew you were loved.”

In addition to his two sons, Frisch is survived by his wife of 57 years, Joelyn; his daughter, Hollis; a brother and six grandchildren. He was buried with full military honors at the Garden of Shalom of Fairview Park Cemetery in DeKalb. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Congregation Beth Shalom, DeKalb, or the Northern Illinois University Foundation.

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