Ted Robert Gurr

Ted Robert Gurr, 81, of Las Vegas, passed away on November 25, 2017. He was born in Spokane, Washington on February 21, 1936, and became an authority on political conflict and instability. His book Why Men Rebel (1970) emphasized the importance of social psychological factors (relative deprivation) and ideology as root sources of political violence. It has been widely translated, most recently into Arabic and Russian. He was a Distinguished University Professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and continued to consult on projects he established there. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty in 1989 Gurr held academic positions at Princeton University (1965–69), Northwestern University (1970–83, where he was Payson S. Wild Professor and chair of the political science department 1977-80); and the University of Colorado (1984–88). Gurr has written or edited more than twenty books and monographs: Why Men Rebel (1970), Violence In America (1979), Handbook of political conflict: Theory and research (1980), The State and the City, coauthored with Desmond King (1987), Ethnic Conflict in World Politics, coauthored with Barbara Harff (2003), Early Warning of Communal Conflict and Genocide: Linking Empirical Research and International Responses (1996), Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems, coedited by Gurr and John L. Davies (1998), Peoples Versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century (2000), Peace and Conflict 2010, coauthored with Joseph Hewitt, Jonathan Wilkenfeld (2009). He is survived by his wife, Barbara; his daughters, Lisa and Andrea; and his step-son, Tim; his brother, David; his niece, Alexandra and nephew, Jonathan; and three grandchildren. Visitation scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1-3pm, with service at 3pm, all at Kraft Sussman Funeral & Cremation Services, 3975 S. Durango Drive, Suite 104, Las Vegas, NV 89147.