Government Professor Bruce Hopper, Teacher of Three Kennedys, Dies

Bruce Cambell Hopper, associate professor of Government from 1937 to his retirement in 1961, died at his Cambridge home on Thursday, July 5. He was 80 years old.

Hopper, who received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1930, was an early expert on the Soviet Union. Associated with the Air Force, he frequently lectured at armed forces institutions on the subject of Russia.

He also participated with the board that chose the site for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Among his many students were three Kennedys: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. '38, John F. Kennedy '40, and Edward M. Kennedy '54. He served as the advisor for the late president's thesis, later published as "Why England Slept."

In the 50th report of his college class, he wrote that he was "grateful to Harvard beyond measurement." "Of all the privileges granted to me," he added, "I cared most about teaching, especially on my return from World War II, to find Radcliffe in the front row of Harvard Hall, bringing decor and color, taking notes and outlines from the board, and flattering the professor by close attention."

"I miss the classroom where it is always morning, and night can never come," he concluded.