Irving Horowitz

Irving Louis Horowitz of Princeton died March 21, 2012. He was born in 1929 in New York City.

At his death, Dr. Horowitz was Hannah Arendt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University. He was also chairman of the board and editorial director of Transaction Publishers and chairman of the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy.

He received a BSS from City College of New York, an MA from Columbia University, and a PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University.

His academic career began with an associate professorship at the University of Buenos Aires and then at Bard College. He was chairman of the sociology department at Hobart and William Smith College, before moving on to Washington University in St. Louis in 1963, where he was instrumental in the founding of Transaction magazine. In 1969, he joined the graduate faculty of Rutgers University, where he served as chairman of the Livingston College sociology department until 1973. In 1979 he was named the Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor of Social and Political Theory. He served as a visiting professor at numerous universities throughout the world and was a member of many professional associations, including the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received many awards for his contributions to public life.

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A prolific writer, his first book was The Renaissance Philosophy of Giordano Bruno. He published nearly 50 books, many of which appeared in translation and multiple editions, as well as hundreds of articles and essays. He edited 11 volumes of Cuban Communism and is widely regarded as the authoritative voice on the subject. His most recent work, just published, is Hannah Arendt: Radical Conservative. Three major articles will be published in the next few months.

He left two major institutions that he was instrumental in creating and developing: Transaction Publishers — where he was chairman of the board and editorial director, and which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year — and The Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, now entering its 15th year.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Curtis Horowitz, and a niece, Ina Claire Lane of Tucson, Ariz.

Services were held March 23 with arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing, with a memorial service to be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Center for Jewish History (YIVO) in New York City or the Rutgers University Foundation.