# Hayward Alker
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{{Short description|American professor (1937–2007)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2017}}
thumb|right|Professor Hayward Alker at the 2007 ISA Convention
'''Hayward R. Alker''' (1937 – 2007) was a professor of [international relations](/source/international_relations) at the [University of Southern California School of International Relations](/source/University_of_Southern_California_School_of_International_Relations), the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) (MIT), and [Yale University](/source/Yale_University). Alker was also former president of the International Studies Association and John A. McCone Chair in International Security at the School of International Relations, University of Southern California.[{{Cite web |title=The Hayward R. Alker Best Student Paper Award – Interpretive Methodologies and Methods |url=https://connect.apsanet.org/interpretationandmethod/the-hayward-r-alker-best-student-paper-award/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |language=en-US}}] Dr. Alker specialized in research methods, core international relations theory, [international politics](/source/international_politics), and security.[{{cite web |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/faculty/g-alker.htm |title=USC School of International Relations- Hayward Alker |accessdate=2006-08-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930054506/http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/faculty/g-alker.htm |archivedate=2006-09-30 }}]
==Education==
He received his [B.S.](/source/B.S.) in mathematics from MIT, and both his M.A. and Ph.D. in [political science](/source/political_science) from Yale University.
==Career==
Hayward Alker served as John A. McCone Professor of International Relations at [USC](/source/University_of_Southern_California) from 1995 until his death in 2007. Previously, he was a senior professor of political science at MIT, and before that was a full professor at Yale by age 29.[{{cite web |url=http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14186.html |title=In Memoriam: Hayward Alker |accessdate=2011-06-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526153255/http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14186.html |archivedate=2011-05-26 }}] From 1992 to 1993, he was the president of the [International Studies Association](/source/International_Studies_Association) (ISA). Alker received appointments as a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including [Brown University](/source/Brown_University), [University of Wales, Aberystwyth](/source/University_of_Wales%2C_Aberystwyth), and the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan). In the Spring of 1987 and in the Spring of 1989, Alker was a Fellow at the [Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study](/source/Swedish_Collegium_for_Advanced_Study) in [Uppsala](/source/Uppsala), [Sweden](/source/Sweden).[{{Cite web |title=Former Fellows SCAS |url=https://www.swedishcollegium.se/fellows/former-fellows/all-former-fellows }}] He was the first [Olof Palme](/source/Olof_Palme) Professor at the [University of Uppsala](/source/University_of_Uppsala) and [Stockholm University](/source/Stockholm_University) in Sweden. He was awarded a 1996 fellowship to study [chaos theory](/source/chaos_theory) at the [Santa Fe Institute](/source/Santa_Fe_Institute).
==Research and influence==
His 1996 book ''Rediscoveries and Reformulations: Humanistic Methodologies for International Studies'' (Cambridge U, {{ISBN|978-0-521-46130-6}}) collected his essays that offer [humanistic](/source/humanistic) alternatives to the conventional [scientific](/source/scientific) approaches within international studies. Alker was one of the 12 key contemporary thinkers covered in the 1997 book "The Future of International Relations," edited by [Iver Neumann](/source/Iver_Neumann). His writings have influenced numerous scholars.
His former students recall his generosity with time and his intellectual creativity. Rather than rewarding only the PhD students who followed his own [research program](/source/Imre_Lakatos), as some professors do, he stimulated and inspired a wide variety of budding intellects. Prof. [Joshua Goldstein](/source/Joshua_Goldstein) wrote: "He was consciously, purposefully multi-methodological and multi-theoretical. He always pushed his students to find other theoretical perspectives and to use multiple methodologies. That had a huge effect on my career."[{{cite web|url=https://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/2007/08/hayward-alker.html|title=The Duck of Minerva: Hayward Alker|website=Duckofminerva.blogspot.com|accessdate=12 August 2017}}]
A memorial conference in his honor was held at the [Watson Institute for International Studies](/source/Watson_Institute_for_International_Studies), [Brown University](/source/Brown_University), 6–7 June 2008. A ''[festschrift](/source/festschrift)'' in his honor resulted in a book, ''Alker and IR: Global Studies in an Interconnected World'' (Routledge 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-415-61597-6}}), edited by [Renée Marlin-Bennett](/source/Ren%C3%A9e_Marlin-Bennett). Another book, edited by [Tahir Amin](/source/Tahir_Amin), is entitled ''World Orders in Central Asia: Essays in honor of Hayward R. Alker'' (Brown University, forthcoming). The Department of International Relations at [Quaid-i-Azam University](/source/Quaid-i-Azam_University) in [Islamabad](/source/Islamabad), [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan), inaugurated the Dr Hayward R. Alker Library in his honor in 2009, containing hundreds of books and papers from Alker's collection.[{{cite web |url=https://www.nation.com.pk/10-Apr-2009/dr-hayward-alker-ir-library-set-up-at-qau |title=Dr Hayward Alker IR library set up at QAU | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online |access-date=2011-07-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927165930/http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Regional/10-Apr-2009/Dr-Hayward-Alker-IR-library-set-up-at-QAU |archive-date=2011-09-27 }}]
The [USC](/source/University_of_Southern_California) Center for International Studies has a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship named in his honor.[{{cite web |url=http://usccis.org/pages/3943/HAYWARD_R._ALKER_POST-DOCTORAL_RESEARCH_COMPETITION_2011-2012.htm |title=Hayward R. Alker Post-Doctoral Research Competition 2011-2012 |accessdate=2011-06-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004040351/http://usccis.org/pages/3943/HAYWARD_R._ALKER_POST-DOCTORAL_RESEARCH_COMPETITION_2011-2012.htm |archivedate=2011-10-04 }}] The ISA posthumously recognized him with its [Susan Strange](/source/Susan_Strange) Award, which recognizes a person whose intellect most challenges conventional wisdom in the international studies community.
Social scientists whom Alker taught include [Robert Axelrod](/source/Robert_Axelrod_(political_scientist)), [Mitchel Wallerstein](/source/Mitchel_Wallerstein), [Thomas Biersteker](/source/Thomas_Biersteker), [Takashi Inoguchi](/source/Takashi_Inoguchi), [Thomas Homer-Dixon](/source/Thomas_Homer-Dixon), [Tahir Amin](/source/Tahir_Amin), [Ijaz Gilani](/source/Ijaz_Gilani), [Peter M. Haas](/source/Peter_M._Haas), [Renee Marlin-Bennett](/source/Renee_Marlin-Bennett), Gavan Duffy, [L.H.M. Ling](/source/L.H.M._Ling), [Dale D. Murphy](/source/Dale_D._Murphy), [Laura Sjoberg](/source/Laura_Sjoberg), [Joshua Goldstein](/source/Joshua_Goldstein), [Roger Hurwitz](/source/Roger_Hurwitz), [John C. Mallery](/source/John_C._Mallery), [Loren King](/source/Loren_King), [Eileen de los Reyes](/source/Eileen_de_los_Reyes), [Neta Crawford](/source/Neta_Crawford), [William D. Stanley](/source/William_D._Stanley), Sinan Birdal, [Eric Blanchard](/source/Eric_Blanchard), Paul T. Levin, and Yong Wook Lee. Other scholars he significantly influenced include Patrick Jackson and [Andrei Tsygankov](/source/Andrei_Tsygankov).
==Personal life==
Alker was born in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) in 1937 and raised in [Greenwich, CT](/source/Greenwich%2C_CT). He attended [Brunswick School](/source/Brunswick_School), where he was the first student in the school's history to earn straight A's.