Janos Radvanyi, a former Mississippi State University faculty member and Hungary’s ambassador to the U.S., died Monday following an extended illness, the university announced Tuesday.
He was 93.
Radvanyi joined MSU’s history department in 1972 after earning a doctorate from Stanford. He went on to found the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies 10 years later and chaired the entity in 1996.
The Republic of Hungary in 1994 honored him “for his achievements through the MSU center to help it begin erasing nearly 40 years of communist mismanagement,” a MSU release states.
The university went on to honor Radvanyi for his lifetime achievements in 2012.
“Dr. Radvanyi brought international issues to the forefront in our state and was a visionary in promoting the study of critical security concerns ranging from environmental threats to Russian resurgence,” said MSU President Mark Keenum in a release. “He was a tremendous force in helping define global concerns.”
Prior to receiving political asylum in the U.S. in 1968, Radvanyi was Hungary’s ambassador to the United States.
After relocating to California to complete a doctorate in history at Stanford University, he joined the MSU history faculty in 1972.
Radvanyi’s work focused on research, including extensive writing and the teaching of special seminars. He devoted full attention to vital international problems with emphasis on the post-communist era’s complex security issues. He also was active in the new research field of environmental security.
Radvanyi is survived by his daughter, Juliana, and son, Janos Jr.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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