More news about Yale people

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Remembered

Michael Howard, the British military historian who taught at Yale from 1989 to 1993, died on November 30 in England. He was 97 years old. Howard served in the Coldstream Guards in World War II and was awarded the Military Cross for exceptional bravery. After the war, he began his career at Kings College London, later moving to Oxford; there he was appointed a Regius Professor—a signal academic honor. “The unifying theme of all his work,” according to the Guardian’s obituary, “was the placing of military history and strategic thought in the broadest social and political context.” Howard was knighted in 1986; he is survived by his partner of more than half a century, Mark James.

Michael Coe, a Yale anthropologist and archeologist who studied Mesoamerican cultures, died on September 25 in New Haven. He was 90. Coe, the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, was known for his work on the Olmec civilization and his contributions to decoding Maya hieroglyphs. He taught at Yale from 1960 to 1994; he was curator of anthropology at the Peabody Museum for 26 years. In a university statement, Peabody director David Skelly said Coe’s work “transformed our understanding of the cultural history of the Americas.” Five children survive him.

Honored

Four Yale students and one alumna have been awarded 2020 Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at Oxford. Among the 32 American Rhodes winners are Lillian Moore-Eissenberg ’20, Harvard, Massachusetts; Christina Pao ’20, Portland, Oregon; Laura Plata ’19, Palatine, Illinois; and Liana Wang ’20, Houston. Marwan Safar Jalani ’20 is Yale’s first winner of a Rhodes for the Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine region.