Historian of US Foreign Policy

Frank T. Reuter, professor emeritus of history at Texas Christian University, died on September 6, 2014, at the age of 88, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Reuter was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on March 18, 1926. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the United States Navy. After earning his PhD at the University of Illinois, where he studied under Arthur E. Bestor Jr., Reuter taught at West Liberty State College in West Virginia. In 1962, he began his long and distinguished teaching career at Texas Christian University specializing in the field of US foreign policy. A gifted and popular lecturer, Reuter was named the TCU Honors Professor of the Year in 1967. Moreover, he was an able administrator, serving as chair of the history department and dean of the graduate school.

In addition to his teaching and administrative responsibilities, Reuter was an active scholar. He directed theses and dissertations and published numerous reviews and articles, as well as four books: West Liberty State College: The First 125 Years (1963); Catholic Influence on American Colonial Policies, 1898–1904 (1967); Trials and Triumphs: George Washington’s Foreign Policy (1988); and, with Spencer Tucker, Injured Honor: The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, June 22, 1807 (1996).

Reuter relished travel. A fellow at the University of Durham in England, he also taught at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Piliscsaba, Hungary. A man of faith, Reuter was extremely active in his church, St. Andrew Catholic Parish, in Fort Worth. He loved classical music and gardening. Above all else, he cherished spending time with his family.

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, revered Reuter. While he expected, and demanded, high-quality work, students filled his classroom, attracted to his sense of humor, affable nature, and engaging lecture style. Furthermore, he was genuinely respected by his ­colleagues. R. David Edmunds maintained that Reuter “was a superb administrator, a very good scholar, and an excellent teacher. . . . He enriched both TCU and the greater Fort Worth community” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram condolences website, September 21, 2014).

A true Renaissance man, Reuter enjoyed a long, rich, and productive life. He will be deeply missed.

Kirk Bane
Blinn College—Bryan, Texas

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