Political scientist Asher Arian dies at 72

NEW YORK (JTA) — Asher Arian, a prominent Israeli political science professor and researcher in Israel and New York, has died.

Arian, who wrote or co-authored many books and scholarly articles, died July 6 following a long illness. He was 72.

Since 1986, the year he started as the executive officer of the political science program at the City University of New York Graduate Center, he has split his time between Israel and the United States. He also served as a professor at the center.

Arian was a research fellow for 15 years at the Israel Democracy Institute and the director of The Guttman Center, a comprehensive database of public opinion surveys in Israel. He incorporated the center into institute  activities.

In 2005, he received the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award of the Israel Political Science Association.

Arian worked as a political science professor in Israel and the United States since 1966, when he started at Tel Aviv University. He helped found the university’s political science department and taught there until 1989.

From 1990 to 2006, he was a political science professor at the University of Haifa.