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Robert A. Pastor ’69, who established the College’s Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture in International Affairs, died Wednesday at his home in Washington, D.C. An obituary appears in the Washington Post. An essay honoring his life appeared in The New Yorker.
President Jimmy Carter thanks Robert Pastor ’69 for his introductory remarks.
President Jimmy Carter delivered the inaugural Pastor Lecture April 22, speaking on “Reflections on Human Rights and Democracy.” The text of Pastor’s eloquent introduction of Carter is posted here, as is the text of Carter’s speech and the question-and-answer session that followed.
Pastor was a professor of international relations in the School of International Service at American University and director of the university’s Center for North American Studies and Center for Democracy and Election Management. As the Post states, “In a varied career lasting nearly four decades, Dr. Pastor became a trusted adviser to presidents, a respected figure in foreign affairs and a prolific academic.”
Pastor was national security adviser for Latin America and a consultant to the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense. He had been affiliated with the Carter Center since 1985. From 1985 to 1998, he was a fellow and founding director of the center’s Latin American and Caribbean Program, Democracy Group, and China Elections Project. At the Carter Center, he developed the technique of “election mediation” and organized the observation of more than 30 elections throughout the world. Since 1998 he had served as a consultant and senior adviser.