Jack Shepherd, Born Dec. 14, 1937, Summit, NJ. Died Dec. 26, 2022, Norwich, VT.

Dr. Jack Shepherd, 85, passed away at his home in Norwich on December 26, 2022, of cancer, with his family at his side and the kind services of Bayada Hospice. Jack loved his family, friends, colleagues, Africa, life in Vermont, and every element of his varied career as journalist, author, and professor. He completed his BA at Haverford College, his MA at Columbia School of Journalism, and his PhD at Boston University. He wrote in many fields ranging from personal health to American history to protection of the natural environment to worldwide political causes of food insecurity.

As a young journalist, Shepherd witnessed great human suffering and hope while covering America's civil rights struggle and war and famines in Nigeria and Ethiopia. These experiences shaped his life's research and writing about the causes of food insecurity, chronic hunger, and the affliction of poverty.

As an author, he wrote about the lives of the American founding family of John and John Quincy Adams, appreciating the lessons of history for the present. He enjoyed co-authoring books about running and exercise for lifelong health, completed three New York Marathons, and enjoyed years of running the hills of the Upper Valley and working out at Dartmouth's Fitness Center. His satirical best sellers with Christopher S. Wren, NY Times correspondent and classmate from Columbia School of Journalism, helped Americans laugh about the politics and foibles of the 1970's. In 2010, with Dr. John R. Butterly, MD he wrote his culminating study, Hunger: The Biology and Politics of Starvation .

Building upon his love for Africa that grew from his early assignments for Look Magazine , Dr. Shepherd at age 50 completed a PhD in African Studies at Boston University. As a professor, he relished teaching both undergraduates and adults. From 1988, he taught undergraduates as Academic Director of Dartmouth's War and Peace Studies Program and in the College's Environmental Studies Program. He also trained as a mediator in this period and promoted mediation at the College. At the University of Cambridge UK from 1993 to 1999, as Director of the Global Security Fellows Initiative (GSFI), he taught graduate students as well as the mid-career members of the GSFI program. With a large grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Dr. Shepherd created, designed, and implemented the GSFI program for men and women in leadership roles in two regions undergoing rapid transformation -- Central and Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union's communism, and southern Africa following the defeat of South Africa's apartheid. Fifty-two Fellows, in six international teams, were selected from the two regions for a research year to examine and evaluate environmental, political, and economic issues across their regions, and to develop proposals for solutions. His travels throughout East Central Europe and southern Africa, guided by GSFI Fellows from each region, deepened his understanding of the regions. He also welcomed many interns from Dartmouth's Dickey Center to assist with the GSFI program and to experience Cambridge.

In 2000, Dr. Shepherd returned to Dartmouth's Environmental Studies Department, where he taught undergraduate courses on developing states, food security and resource scarcities. He led the relocation of the Department's Africa Foreign Study Program (AFSP) to southern Africa, drawing upon the Cambridge GSFI Fellows from that region. The AFSP job, he said, was "to take 20 of the best Dartmouth undergrads to southern Africa for a term -- and bring 20 back!" He and his wife Kathleen greatly enjoyed these trips and kept up with many of the students thereafter. Subsequently, Dr. Shepherd taught grad students in Dartmouth's Master of Arts of Liberal Arts (MALS), where he also enjoyed mentoring thesis students toward good analytical and writing skills.

Jack delighted in his family. He leaves his wife of 63 years, Kathleen Shepherd, of Norwich, daughter Kristen Shepherd Hampton (Rob) and granddaughters Ava and Morgan of Atlanta; son Caleb Shepherd (Eleanor Lowenthal), Jennifer Shepherd, and granddaughter Finch of Norwich; the Tshabalala family of Johannesburg, the Donohue-Ozyar family of Bethesda, MD; sister-in-law Mary Ann Smith, niece Stacia Bahamondes (John Paul) and their son Bennett, niece Selene Devaney (John) and their children Corinne, Camille and John Jr., all of Key Biscayne, FL; sister-in-law Niki Mason (Jim) of Cedar Key, FL and nephew Levi Mason (Cara) and their son Theo of Woodstock, VA; niece Patricia Lesinski of Toms River, NJ, niece Barbara Lesinski (Corey) of Asbury Park, NJ, nephew Robert Lesinski (Leonora) of Ocean Township, NJ; Kim, Elizabeth and Jillian Boba of Joliet, IL. Jack's sister Sandra Lesinski and her husband Ray predeceased him.

Jack looked for the best in people and, despite deep concerns about our current political scene, kept high hopes for the generations to whom we are entrusting the future. He loved living in Vermont with birds and other wildlife around him. In early years he cut and stacked firewood from the woodlot and in later years was known around the neighborhood for stacking the firewood in amusing designs. He loved hiking in Colorado and New Mexico and paddling a canoe on the Connecticut. He enjoyed and often relived memories of the Coast-to-Coast and Pembrokeshire Coast walks in England, taken with dear friends Jim Gold and Penny McConnel and sister Mary Ann Smith.

Having been introduced to Quakerism as an undergraduate at Haverford College, Jack became a member of Hanover Friends Meeting when the family moved to Norwich from New York City in 1977. He served as Clerk and in several committee roles over the years. He considered himself a devout Quaker. He treasured the silent seeking of that faith, his own growth through obedient practice, and all the members of that beloved community.

In his memory, a gift may be made to the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) of Hanover, NH; Haverford College, Haverford, PA; or to the Environmental Studies Department, Dartmouth College. A service to celebrate his life will be held at Hanover Friends Meetinghouse at a future date to be announced.

Flag for the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, designed by J. Shepherd.