Dorothy Rae Dodge was born March 17, 1927, in Mason City, Iowa. She earned her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She served as executive director of the American Association for the United Nations, before joining the faculty of Macalester College in St. Paul in 1955. Dorothy became chair of the Political Science Department in 1968 and was named James Wallace Professor of Political Science in 1973. Her teaching interests included comparative political systems, particularly in Africa and Asia; international theory and international law; cross-national urban problems; women in politics; and developing and applying simulation models in which students took roles in functioning models of real life social science problems. She was also the coordinator of Macalester’s International Studies Program and made study trips to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tunisia and the United Arab Republic. Her many publications included the book African Politics in Perspective.
“In many ways she was a pioneering academic in political science,” said Professor Chuck Green, a longtime colleague in Macalester’s Political Science Department. “She was among a small group of women who received their Ph.Ds in the 1950s and entered a predominantly male discipline.” Green said Dodge’s teaching featured some of the earliest incorporation of instructional games and simulations of decision-making and conflict resolution; the regular use of guests to connect her students with issues through personal contact with policymakers and advocates; and she actively encouraged and supported student internships with international organizations and agencies. When Macalester had a January term, she led several courses based in New York at the United Nations.
She was also a frequent speaker on current affairs at community organizations throughout the Twin Cities. Even after retirement she consulted with a number of organizations, especially those dealing with international politics and human rights, Green said. Patricia Kane, a retired English professor at Macalester, recalled that Dodge was the first woman elected as presiding officer of the faculty when that custom was established in the 1970s. During the same decade, Dodge, Kane and French Professor Virginia Schubert received a regional grant from HEW designed to raise the career aspirations of women. The grant paid for seminars which brought to campus career women from the Twin Cities who talked about their careers and what paths they followed to reach them. These seminars were very successful, offering role models and contacts for Macalester women students, Schubert said.
Upon Dorothy’s passing, a special fund valued at $1.6 million was established from her estate, through the American Center for Philanthropy - with the proceeds benefiting Macalester College. The fund provides annual scholarships for women political or social science majors. When the gift was announced, the college’s president, Rosenberg, noted, “Dorothy Dodge was an outstanding faculty member for many years and I can think of no better way to remember her than a scholarship for political science students in her name.”
Story courtesy of Macalaster College.
