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<em>John Philip Lovell,</em> proud ’55 graduate and Professor Emeritus of Indiana University, died on 15 Sep 1998. In life, he was more than a teacher. In death, he continues to influence and inspire through the legacy ofhis writings.</p>
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John grew up in Madison, WI, and as the Class of 1950 Orator at Madison West High School, delivered the graduation speech “Life Is What You Make It”—a code that was prophetic and would guide him throughout life. He entered USMA with the Class of ’55 and by weight of natural leadership, intelligence wrapped in humility, warm generosity of spirit, and a delightful sense of humor, he sowed the seeds of friendship that was so important to him and to the many who were its beneficiary.</p>
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He was elected class historian in recognition of his literary talent and in appreciation ofhis gentle wit. John also was selected to be the managing editor of the <em>Pointer</em> based on having published the best edition, the Valentine issue, during Cow year—but not without first explaining to the Superintendent, while standing at attention in a virtual brace, by what authority he had informed Debbie Reynolds that she had been elected Sweetheart of the Corps.</p>
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John was promoted to cadet captain and C-2 company commander. He was modest and unpretentious but nevertheless determined that wearing glasses—upon which he was sorely dependent—while leading the company on parade, was not consistent with the “poster-boy” image of a cadet. The solution that worked, most of the time, involved the guidon bearer playing seeing-eye dog, giving John course corrections on the Plain or in Central Area during the winter band box reviews.</p>
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Commissioned in Field Artillery, John served most of his three years of active duty in Germany, where he met and later married Joanne Granger. Together for the next four decades, they, with their children Sara and David, eventually established themselves in Bloomington, IN, as John pursued a new career in academia.</p>
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John earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin. His doctoral dissertation was titled “The Cadet Phase of Professional Socialization of the West Pointer.” This began a 32-year teaching and research career at Indiana University, rising through the academic ranks to full professor, and an additional four years as a professor emeritus. During these years, he periodically accepted appointments as a visiting professor at Vassar College, USNA, U.S. Army War College, and the Strategic Studies Institute.</p>
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John earned a national reputation for academic expertise in the areas of foreign policy, the military and society, and civil-military relations. Recent years were in part committed to identifying the lessons the United States military learned during the Viet Nam War. Among his contributions to political science theory is his thinking on organizational learning and change in the study of military bureaucracies, theories on the socialization process in professional military schools, and the importance of organizations learning from past successes and failures—a process he called “adaptation.”</p>
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Based on his research and analysis, John authored or co-authored three major books—<em>Foreign Policy in Perspective, Strategy: Adaptation, Decision Making, Neither Athens nor Sparta?</em> <em>The American Service Academies in Transition</em>; and <em>The Challenge of American Foreign Policy: Purpose and Adaptation</em>. He also was the editor, co-editor, and/or contributor to four more books.</p>
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John’s teaching generally focussed on the subjects of U.S. foreign policy and the politics of national security. It was there, perhaps, where John made his most enduring contribution. A former student writes that John was his teacher, but more than that, a mentor. Many students learned from John that they’re never located outside of their subjects of study, but rather, are inseparable from them. “John,” the student wrote, “empowered me to actively contribute to the socio-political life. He will always be, for me, more than a teacher.”</p>
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Among his many positions and accomplishments, John was a co-founder of the InterUniversity Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, an organization that has furthered the study of the military as a legitimate field of scholarly inquiry and continues to contribute to bridging the gap between academia and the armed forces. He was the founder, and in the ’80s the director, of the Indiana Consortium for Security Studies. He was a founding member of the Council on U.S. Korean Security Studies during 1986-90, served on the Governing Council of the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association during 1986-91, was a member of the steering committee of the Midwest Consortium on International Security Studies during 1989-91, and a member of the National Strategy Forum druing 1987-98. He was the founder of the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace and served as its founding director from 1989 until his retirement in 1994.</p>
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As impressive as this listing of academic achievements is, it pales in comparison with the man—a genuinely warm, humorous, caring, sensitive friend who loved his family; tennis; a game of cribbage; the humor of Johnathan Winters and Bob Newhart; the music of the Mills Brothers, Peggy Lee, the Carpenters, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins; and a homemade martini. He was a fan of the Indiana University basketball and football teams; enjoyed the good ol’ musicals of West Side Story, Carousel, Camelot, and the Music Man; liked making breakfast, singing in the shower, traveling, and students. John balanced his scholarship with his humanity. We mourn the passing of an accomplished scholar, outstanding teacher, wise counselor, good friend, kind soul, and courageous individual.</p>
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Early in the ’90s, Parkinson’s disease began to take its inexorable toll. Characteristic of the way that he lived his life—and reminiscent of that high school valedictorian speech—though the disease progressively limited his mobility, he would not permit it to curtail his scholarship and determination to pursue those things he treasured. A classmate who visited John in his last month writes, “Although his wonderfully active mind, unaffected by Parkinson’s disease, acknowledged the fact that his body was shutting down, his will to stay active and productive refused to accept it.” During his last two years, he underwent brain surgery, made a cross-country train trip aided by Joanne and family, and edited/co-edited two more books—<em>To Sheath the Sword: Civil Military Relations in the Quest for Democracy</em>, and<em> Insight from Film into Violence and Oppression: Shattered Dreams of the Good Life.</em></p>
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A man of letters should, in part, be memorialized in his own words. John wrote in his personal dairy the following thoughts on 11 Nov 1958 that so perfectly, simply, and eloquently speak to his life: <em>Things to remember—The value of time; The success of perseverance; The pleasure of working; The dignity of simplicity; The worth of character; The power of kindness; The influence of example; The obligation of duty.</em></p>