Frank Tachau


Frank Tachau was an American scholar of German descent. Scholars have noted that his work contributed to expanding the study of the Middle East into a comparative field. He was a lecturer and professor at several universities, including the University of Illinois.

Early life and education

Frank Tachau was born in Baunschweig into a Jewish family. His father was Paul Tachau and his mother Ilse Tachau. Some members of the family were rabbis involved in German politics. The family moved to the United States in 1936, eventually settling on Chicago's South Side. Tachau graduated from the Hyde Park Academy High School. He graduated with a BSc and eventually obtained an MSc in political sciences from the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D in international relations from the same university in 1958. His dissertation focused on the "Diplomacy on the Turkish Straits between 1936 and 1942".

Academic career

His early academic career led him to Purdue and Rutgers universities. From September 1963 to June 1964 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Ankara. He was called to the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1968. There he stayed for the remainder of his career, where on two occasions he acted as chairman of the political science department. He retired from his full-time professorship in 1996 but continued to lecture until 2010.

Research

He is noted for contributing to a shift in Middle Eastern studies toward a broader comparative focus. He conducted extensive research on the politics in Turkey and the Ottoman Empire; was appointed a visiting professor to several Turkish universities; and mastered both modern Turkish and Ottoman Turkish. The interviews he conducted with members of the Israeli Parliament have been cited in the work of other researchers. His work contributed to the University of Illinois's engagement with international scholarship, particularly in Middle Eastern studies.

Personal life

Frank Tachau was married and the father of five children. He died on the 23 July 2010.