Leslie M. Lipson; Writer, Political Science Professor

Leslie M. Lipson, scholarly author, commentator and UC Berkeley professor of political science for 34 years who liked to pen nonsense poetry just for fun, has died. He was 87.

Lipson, whose half a dozen books examined democracy and the ethical choices of individuals and societies through the ages, died Friday in Berkeley of prostate cancer.

“I am a humanist,” Lipson once said, in explaining his interests for the biographical reference work Contemporary Authors, “who specializes in the study of the political aspect of society. Hence, I ask of every system and every theory, ‘Are the results, in practice, good or bad?’ I . . . inquire . . . into the progress, or lack of it, which civilization has recorded thus far in its ethical standards.”

Probably his best-known book was “The Great Issues of Politics,” a popular collegiate political science textbook first published in 1954, which went through 10 editions and was translated into several foreign languages.

In a review for The Times of Lipson’s 1964 book, “The Democratic Civilization,” Mortimer Chambers wrote that the 600-page survey of democracy was “balanced and informative.” The reviewer added that “the author manages to throw off many observations that are at least challenging and suggestive.”

Lipson’s most recent book was “The Ethical Crises of Civilization: Moral Meltdown or Advance?” published in 1993.

Although he retired from the Berkeley faculty in 1984, Lipson continued to publish and lecture, writing opinion pieces for the San Francisco Chronicle as recently as 1999.

He was the academic advisor and a teacher for the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning in San Francisco from 1989 until last spring. Last year, he opened the Institute’s Centennial & Millennial Discourses series at the University of San Francisco with a talk titled: “The Political Order of the World--1900 to 2000.”

Lipson also was a popular lecturer for the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and served as a trustee of the organization.

From 1963 to 1976, he was a regular panelist and reporter, covering the British press, on PBS’ weekly program, “World Press.” Lipson also was a member of the board of directors for KQED-TV, the PBS station in San Francisco.

Born in London, Lipson earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oxford University and a doctorate from the University of Chicago. He taught at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, from 1939 to 1946, serving in the New Zealand Home Guard during World War II. While working there, he gathered material for his 1948 book, “The Politics of Equality: New Zealand’s Adventures in Democracy.”

Lipson immigrated to the United States in 1947, teaching political science at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., until 1950, when he joined the Berkeley faculty. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1953.

Revered as a teacher, Lipson was twice selected by undergraduate students as the best teacher in Berkeley’s political science department. He headed the department’s undergraduate program from 1977 to 1980 and in 1980 earned the Berkeley Citation given to a person of extraordinary achievement in his field who demonstrates outstanding service to UC Berkeley.

Twice widowed, Lipson is survived by his third wife, Helen; his son, David of Mill Valley, Calif., and one granddaughter.

A memorial service is scheduled at the UC Berkeley Faculty Club at 4 p.m. Sept. 10.

A scholarship is being established in Lipson’s name for the study of humanistic values and social policy. The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Leslie Lipson Scholarship Fund, in care of the law offices of David R. Lipson, 1 Maritime Plaza, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94111.