Memorial services Saturday for UH Manoa Political Science Professor Ira Rohter

To be held at 9 a.m. at Honolulu Waldorf School

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Diane Chang, (808) 956-0391
Director of Communications
Posted: Jun 22, 2009


An outdoor memorial service for UH Mānoa Political Science Professor Ira Rohter will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, at the Honolulu Waldorf School, 350 Ulua Street, Niu Valley. He passed away on June 22 from a severe infection.

Said Kathy E. Ferguson, Acting Chair of the Political Science Department, "Ira was a valued colleague who invested many years of study in Hawaiʻi politics. He never ceased to struggle for a more just and sustainable political and economic system. Many progressive local initiatives, including the state‘s Green Party and the push for election reform, were a result of Ira‘s tireless work for a better Hawaiʻi."

Dr. Rohter earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1967, and joined UH Mānoa in 1968. He regularly taught courses in Politics of Hawaiʻi, Political Ecology and Development, Environmental Politics, and alternative futures.

In 1992, he published, "A Green Hawaiʻi: Sourcebook for Development Alternatives." He was a founding member of the Transformational Politics section of the American Political Science Association. In 1992, he helped found the Hawaiʻi Green Party, and served as a co-chair for many years.

Professor Rohter served as first vice president of the Hawaiʻi Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and was on the board of the Hawaiʻi Clean Elections project.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Honolulu Waldorf High School Building Fund. Call (808) 377-5471 for more information.