Samuel P. Huntington Dies at Age 81

Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington died on December 24.

Samuel P. Huntington

Samuel P. Huntington | Jon Chase/Harvard News Office

Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, Ph.D. ’51, the Weatherhead University Professor emeritus, died December 24, at age 81, on Martha's Vineyard. He retired from teaching in 2007, after 58 years of service at Harvard, according to the official University news release on his life and career.

Huntington was best known for his views on the importance of cultural identities and affiliations in shaping relations between and among states and nations--an argument popularly summarized by his vivid phrase, "the clash of civilizations," first spelled out in a 1993 journal article and then expanded upon in a internationally best-selling book published in 1996.

Related topics

You might also like

The University will compensate families of those whose remains were sold and establish a scholarship to honor anatomical donors.

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.

Most popular

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

FAS leaders say restructuring will be complete by mid-October.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with curly blonde hair sits casually against a stone wall, wearing a black top and jeans.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.

Three young women posed side by side against red background.

The 2026-2027 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows