Remembering Joseph S. Nye

Joe Nye: a life wonderfully lived. Few contributed as much to our intellectual capital, our understanding of the world and America's place in it. A friend and mentor to so many including me. 

I would like to express my heartfelt condolences on the passing of Professor Nye of Harvard University. Professor Nye possessed profound insight into the Japan-U.S. Alliance and made significant contributions to its strengthening through his dialogues and policy recommendations.

I would like to once again express my respect for his significant achievements and, remembering his many years of dedication to strengthening Japan-U.S. relations, on behalf of the Government and people of Japan, offer my heartfelt prayers for the repose of his soul.

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Professor Joseph S. Nye of Harvard University. Professor Nye, who possessed profound knowledge and insight into international politics, was one of the foremost scholars with a deep understanding of the Japan-U.S. Alliance.

Through his policy recommendations and efforts to promote bipartisan understanding of Japan within the United States, he made lasting contributions to the development of the Japan-U.S. relationship. I would like to once again express my profound respect for his contributions and extend my sincere condolences on his passing.

RIP Joe Nye. Profound scholar of international relations. Dedicated public official. Academic leader. The modern university has far too few like him. I will so miss learning from him but his writing and his example will influence me and many others for a long time to come.

It is hard to imagine the Belfer Center without Joe.

While he wasn’t quite present at the creation when great H biochemist Paul Doty founded the Center, when HKS was fortunate enough to persuade him to succeed Doty as Director, he lead us up the next mountain and the one beyond. And in the decades that followed he has been a stalwart pillar of the community.

As a thought leader and accomplished practitioner, Joe embodied the aspirations of the Center. His consistently wise counsel and insightful comments have enriched us all. Like the other founders of what is today the Belfer Center, Joe grew up in the nuclear age: under the shadow of the threat of nuclear annihilation of us all.

Both in the academy and in government, he was proudest of his opportunities to do whatever he could to minimize that risk. The Avoiding Nuclear War project that he, Al Carnesale, and I co-chaired produced a series of books and reports, informed the work we did in government, and trained many of next generation leaders who continue to address this challenge. 

For me personally, he was one of my oldest and best friends. From the 1960s when invited a fellow graduate student to join him on a fishing trip to Maine, to countless adventures that took us from Colorado and Alaska, to the Amur River that marks the border between China and what was then the Soviet Union, we melded.

We thought together, wrote together, philosophized together, sharing joys and pains. As he once put it, we had spent more time with each other than with any other adult except our wives!

After his wife Molly died last fall, Joe became more conscious that his days— like those of all of us!—were numbered. As he said at Molly’s memorial service, he came to a deeper understanding of the power of gratitude (for all that he had enjoyed) rather than loss. He said that when his time came, he wished he could go quickly.

Though we all wish it could have been years from now, we can give thanks that Joe passed comfortably. Those of us who have read his intellectual contributions, listened to his comments, engaged him in debate can be grateful for what he gave us.

Those of us who had the good fortune to become his friends now have a big hole in our hearts.

Joe was a protean man — founding father of the Kennedy School, brilliant academic, admired senior government official. What really stood out for me was Joe's commitment to be a servant leader in everything he did.

Literally hundreds of us count Joe as our indispensable mentor. He was simply a giant at the Kennedy School and in our lives. I will miss his piercing intellect, great warmth, humor and friendship.

Today we feel the loss of Joe Nye — a cherished friend, an extraordinary scholar, a treasured teacher and mentor, a relentless optimist, and one of the great architects of modern international relations.

For decades, Joe animated the classrooms, seminars, and hallways of Harvard and the Belfer Center with his brilliance and his kindness in equal measure. His ideas transformed how we understand power, leadership, and diplomacy.

His presence transformed all of us who had the privilege to know him. Few people leave such an indelible mark on both the world and the people around them. And few will be missed so deeply.

My deepest condolences to the Nye family, the Belfer family and the Harvard Kennedy School family. Like many of you, I cannot imagine a Tuesday Belfer Board lunch without Joe and his always incisive questions. I cannot imagine a world without Joe’s soft power—his humanity, his insistence that we use all the tools of national security and foreign policy, his leadership, his teaching, his brilliance, always ahead of the future, always ready to take on the next challenge. Farewell Joe. May your memory be a blessing and a light for us all.

Joe Nye combined a collection of traits that are increasingly rare in academe. He was a highly influential and productive scholar who did important work over six decades. He was also a dedicated public servant, an able and innovative Dean, and a gracious and humane individual. He cast a long shadow over the field of international relations and shaped my own career from the very beginning. I first encountered his seminal work as an undergraduate and later wrote my Master’s thesis on his book POWER AND INTERDEPENDENCE (co-authored with Robert Keohane). Twenty years later, Joe recruited me to HKS and subsequently asked me to serve as his academic dean. Like all of us, I’m deeply grateful for all that he gave to the Center, the School, and the world. We’ll miss him.

Joe Nye was a star at Harvard when I arrived in 1974 to join the Program for Science and International Affairs (which was the predecessor to the Belfer Center). In the ensuing years, I was privileged to have him as a partner in teaching and research, to serve in government with him and, most importantly, to have him as a dear friend.My engineering background hardly prepared me for Harvard's academic world of international affairs and public policy, but Joe's personal, informal tutorials helped narrow the gap.Joe strived (with remarkable success) to be the best in everything he did, including being a devoted husband, father, and grandfather; a renowned scholar; a caring and effective teacher; a committed public servant; and a prize-winning vegetable gardener. (An exception was his singularly unsuccessful attempts to imbue in me the art of fishing.) Joe served as role model for all who were fortunate enough to spend time with him. I will miss him - - as will so many others.

Joe Nye was a giant. He was a giant because his ideas shaped the worldviews and approaches of multiple generations of policymakers.

I saw his impact in the contributions of so many colleagues who had learned from him - and I felt his impact on me throughout my time in government. 

He was also a giant because his personal touch shaped our life choices and our character. He cared about who we were as people even more than he cared about us as thinkers and doers.  

There were many ways to learn from Joe, but here was my favorite, from many fly fishing trips with him to Alaska. He would graciously send me into the river first, before the salmon would detect the were there. I’d cast, and come up empty. Joe would follow, study the river, think like a salmon, and cast his fly precisely to the place where it would have the most likelihood of success. Of course, he was pulling fish out of the river in places I found none. It was like that back in Cambridge, or Washington. Joe had a remarkable ability to “read the river,’’ and figure his best way accomplish the task — not as a hawk or a dove, he would like to say, but as an owl.

We’ll all miss his easy smile, his gentle way, his precision of thought — and how he taught us to read the river.

I met Joe in 1976, when he was serving as one of the architects of the Ford-MITRE study of the future of nuclear energy, published as “Nuclear Power, Issues and Choices” in 1977. I was a member of the Steering Committee of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems at the time and was invited in 1976 to speak with the Ford-MITRE group. 

I already had great admiration for Joe based on reading his published work, and I was happy indeed to find that he shared my view that, on nonproliferation grounds, the United States should eschew indefinitely the recycling of plutonium in nuclear power reactors. That conclusion was the centerpiece of the Ford-MITRE report that came out a year later, in no small part thanks to Joe. By then, he had become the Deputy Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance, Science, and Technology, and he was instrumental in convincing President Carter to embrace the Ford-MITRE conclusion on plutonium as national policy.

As so many others have emphasized in their remembrances of Joe, he was not only a brilliant scholar and influential government advisor and official; he was also a kind and gentle human being. That combination was brought home to me emphatically shortly after I arrived at the Kennedy School from Berkeley in 1996. Joe was the Dean then, but he took time to attend my first seminar in what later became the Belfer Center. 

In the Q&A, he gently eviscerated me for asserting that a global prohibition of nuclear weapons was something worth thinking about. I responded by giving him a copy of my essay, “Getting to Zero: Too Difficult? Too Dangerous? Too Distracting?” I saw him in the hall a few days later, and he said with a smile, “I read it. You’re not as crazy as I thought.”

I will miss him terribly.

Joe was a wonderful colleague and mentor for so many of us in Cambridge and around the world. Not simply a towering figure in the realm of international relations, but a monumental person of the highest quality. He taught as he lived; with enthusiasm, kindness, and a sharp intellect ever pushing us beyond the current boundaries of knowledge. Joe was equally generous with his time, guidance, and wisdom during the best of times and moments of uncertainty for us as individuals and as a country.

I will sorely miss seeing Joe and I am deeply grateful for the impact he had on all of us fortunate to spend time with him during a remarkable life of service.

It was a privilege and inspiring to work with Joe in the mid-1980s as he led the Center’s research and outreach on addressing the most vexing international security challenges at the end of the Cold War, most prominently the Avoiding Nuclear War project. Joe’s devotion to the intellectual development of so many students and fellows who continue to shape policy and research in the field is another element of his extraordinary legacy.

Joe and Molly welcomed my family as neighbors in Lexington with open arms, and we remember fondly Patriot’s Day celebrations at their home on the Green, visits to Molly’s gallery, and Joe inviting my sons to help tend his backyard chickens. May they rest in peace. 

It was not easy for a journalist to arrive at the Kennedy School and set up a center devoted to the role of journalism in the fashioning of a nation's public policy. For a while journalism did not seem to fit in the scholarly environs of the KS. But Joe and a few other Deans and scholars eased the way with a smile, a suggestion, a dinner at their home. Finally journalism fit. Joe helped in so many ways.

He was always kind, supportive, sharing. I shall never forget his decency and his awesome contributions to the nation's welfare. 

The loss of Joseph Nye will be deeply felt throughout the public diplomacy community. His articulation of the critical value of soft power is needed now more than ever. Let us all, particularly the rising professionals who will grapple with the myriad global risks of climate change, disinformation, and other critical issues, carry on his work as a champion of public diplomacy. 

I vividly recall the broad grin of Dean Nye in describing with ardent enthusiasm an upcoming fly fishing expedition, equating the casting of the line to a joyful outreach of the soul. I cherish my photograph with him at the 2003 Dean's Award for Excellence ceremony to this day. May he rest in the soft power of peace. 

In 1983, when he began working on his book Nuclear Ethics, Joe recruited me to study with him. He imagined that someone with a degree in philosophy might be helpful. I don't know if I was, but from the moment I arrived, he treated me as a colleague, and very soon as a friend. I had the pleasure of working with him on the Avoiding Nuclear War Project (which worked), on the critical oral history of the Cuban Missile Crisis (which revolutionized our understanding of the most dangerous episode of the nuclear age), and on his textbook, Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation (which continues to serve as the entree to international politics for thousands of students around the world every year). He was one of the warmest and wisest men I have ever known, and it was my great privilege to know him.

My one regret is that I never played Joe in squash. I wasn't good enough -- so he played Peter Feaver instead. Molly was my golfing buddy, though. I will miss them both terribly.

I last saw Professor Nye just a week before he passed. He welcomed me with warmth and sparkling eyes. I asked him about soft power, current global affairs, and America’s evolving role in the world—but in his characteristically humble way, he turned the conversation toward me. He asked when I first lived abroad, how my late father felt about it, and how I view the empowerment of Saudi women today.

He shared his belief that the rise of women leaders in Saudi Arabia could become one of the country’s most compelling sources of soft power—a force of influence rooted not in coercion, but in credibility, cultural evolution, and global inspiration. He asked about my family—my husband, my children—and how I balance personal and professional life. It wasn’t just polite interest; it was the kind of deep listening that makes you feel seen.

The next day, he invited me as his guest to an event and saved me a seat beside him at the roundtable. When I said, “I’m deeply privileged to sit beside you,” he smiled and replied, “I am also very privileged to know you and sit beside you.” He introduced me to others with genuine pride, saying, “I would like you to meet Noura. I’m very impressed by her.”

That was Joe Nye—brilliant, gracious, and utterly human. He embodied soft power not just in theory, but in presence. His legacy is etched not only in ideas, but in the way he made others feel valued and heard.

Joe Nye set the standard for research that bridged the gap between theory and policy. It is a testament to his enduring legacy that concepts he developed decades ago continue to be vital for modern scholarly and policy debates.

Joe also provided an exemplar of how to be a senior scholar in the field -- always insightful, always gentle. He will be missed.

I was fortunate enough to work with Joe for over 9 1/2 years on the Senior Executive Fellows program. I remember being intimidated to work with such a highly respected figure at HKS, but he was always so kind and humble. Sometimes months would go by and I assumed he wouldn’t remember me, but he always did! While Joe is well known for all his contributions to HKS and the world, what stood out to me was what an incredible human being he was to all.

I’ll miss our conversations and feel so blessed I got to call you my friend and colleague. 

I knew Joe from the late 1980s and he always supported me in my long battle with Harvard, even wrote a letter to the President backing me, just like the late Mike Wallace, and my request for a formal apology from the university for subjecting me to a wrongful arrest and imprisonment (I was fully exonerated of any wrongdoing and Harvard then banned me instead of issuing an apology, call it imperial hubris). I miss Joe, a true humanist as well as original thinker.

Prof. Joe Nye truly embodied the essence of a scholar and a gentleman.
I had the privilege of meeting him during my time at the Belfer Center in 2018-2019. Since then, we have maintained contact through numerous email exchanges.

Just three weeks ago, on April 17th, I was fortunate to see him in his office, where he graciously welcomed me after six years. We enjoyed a lengthy conversation, he inquired about my latest work on nuclear, aviation, and AI safety. I subsequently sent him some update emails, and he, as always, responded with his gracious feedback. At our meeting, he kindly autographed his final book, "A Life in the American Century," for me, and we captured the moment with a selfie photo together, which I will treasure forever.

As I expressed to him for the last time on April 17th -- and I'm certain he knew -- both loved and admired him deeply. I am profoundly saddened and heartbroken by this loss...

Professor Nye has left us. It was under the illumination of his theoretical insights that I undertook my Ph.D. research. My thesis, titled "India as a Soft Power in the Twenty-First Century: An Assessment of the Challenges and Prospects, 2004–2019," is deeply inspired by his vision. His theoretical perspective will remain immortal to all of us who follow in his footsteps. Through my dissertation, I offer a floral tribute and express my heartfelt respect and admiration for him.

Last year, Professor Nye visited the U.S.-Japan program I’m affiliated with and gave a lecture that left a lasting impression on me. Meeting someone I had long respected through his books was truly meaningful, his insight, humility, and sense of humor made the hour pass in the blink of an eye. Even as a professor myself, I left that room inspired to strive further, to emulate not only his intellectual brilliance but also his gracious character.

Professor Nye, thank you for being a role model across generations. May you rest peacefully.

Joe Nye was such a rarity – a brilliant scholar and policymaker who contributed so much to our understanding of power, who was also deeply, fundamentally kind. Most importantly, he applied his famous theory of soft power in his own life. He transformed his students, many of us hoping to emulate the soft-power style of teaching and leadership he exemplified. I was one of many beneficiaries of his kindness and encouragement. I learned so much from him, most importantly, how to be a mentor.

His legacy lives not only in his groundbreaking theory, but in the many students who carry forward his example of thoughtful leadership, personal integrity, and genuine compassion. 

A man of strength and moral clarity. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. Rest in peace Joe Nye. 

Joe was a constant presence and source of inspiration throughout my Harvard experience. He seemed impossibly wise and polished when he lectured at Sanders Theater, from my perspective as an undergraduate student in his Historical Studies A-12 "International Conflict in the Modern World" class. Later, when I moved to HKS for my MPA and PhD, he had taken on the role of Dean. I remember him as being warm, kind, and surprisingly attentive to students. Now, as a faculty member, students/recent alums have come to me to share their sorrow over his passing, praising his generosity with office hours and his encouragement.

He has been a true blessing to HKS and Harvard, and I hope we will be able to prevail in upholding his vision of universities as an important source of soft power.

Professor Nye was an incomparable mentor to me in the early stages of my career. He was the North Star of grace, charm, intellect, and strategic wisdom that helped me find my professional calling - both through the opportunities provided me and through the intellectual pursuits he encouraged me to follow.

It is no exaggeration to say that I think about the impact he had on my life on a daily basis, and I will miss him greatly - as will so many others he profoundly touched over the years.

I met Joe when I was Pierre Keller Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2019-2020. It was the end of the first Trump administration. We had lively discussions on the European Union (EU), the US, and soft power. The scholar who elaborated the very concept of soft power was reminding me that it is not a self-sufficient one for affecting international politics. According to Joe, indeed, the EU continued to rely too much on the US hard power, a reliance which reduced the international attraction of its model and values. The EU had to become an international hard-powers actor, according to Joe, to use its soft power potentiatilities.

The second Trump administration confirmed, dramatically, his view. In these conversations, I was impressed by his intellectual elegance, his personal curiosity, his knowledge of foreign leaders. A gentleman in his thoughts and behaviour.

May you rest in peace. - Susan (KSG 2001-2005)

Joe Nye was a deeply treasured friend, mentor, and endless reservoir of patience, wisdom and optimism. He inspired us not only with his vision of a world shaped not solely by brute force, but by the soft power of attraction and conviction. He embodied this with his character. He was one of the kindest, most thoughtful, and most sincere people I have ever met.

I first met Joe in 2011 at a cyber conference. From the outset, he went out of his way to support me in various ways. He extended this trust further when he invited me to help him teach the first international cybersecurity course at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2014. Working with Joe was one of the most formative experiences of my life—and not only intellectually. Observing him engage with others, always with unfailing kindness and thoughtfulness, even amid the harsh realities of elite academia and the national security world, was a masterclass in moral leadership.

Of all the anecdotes, one most embodies his gentle character. While discussing travel arrangements with him and his devoted and cherished PA Jeanne, Jeanne warned me of getting something wrong and experiencing a “Joe yell”. Joe frowned sightly and said “I never yelled at someone in my life”. “But you did!” said Jeanne “You raised that eyebrow at me! It was a Joe yell!”

I will forever be grateful for having counted him as a friend and mentor. He will be deeply missed.

Joe Nye was a towering intellect, a great public servant, and, along with his late dear wife Molly, a close personal friend. Like so very many others, I will miss him greatly. 

As a Kennedy School student back in 2009, I had the honor of having Joe Nye as a professor. This was an incredibly positive experience for me; it was just one class, but it had a lasting memory. I remember him not only as one of the great teachers at the Kennedy school but someone who truly cared about his students and about sharing knowledge and challenging us. It makes me sad to learn about his passing, but his memory shall live on.

In an age when the soft power of development and diplomacy seems to be going out of style, his lessons are even more powerful today. If only everyone took his class!!!

I spent the academic year 1992-93 at the Law School (International Legal Studies) as a Visiting Researcher and came often to the Center for International Affairs, where I greatly enjoyed the monthly seminar with Joe Nye, Stanley Hoffman, Bob Keohane and Sam Huntington. It was a great help for my effort to develop a political philosophy of international and global affairs. Joe’s contributions were a model of clarity and attention for the political core of the issues. I remember an extended conversation with him at the Kennedy School about the then actual topic of nuclear ethics.

I missed him as I came back again to Harvard in later years. It is very sad to mourn such an outstanding and affable colleague, whose ideas have been important for the understanding of international politics in Europe as well.

In January 2001, in the final days of the Clinton administration, I received an unexpected phone call. It was from Joe Nye, asking if I would consider teaching at HKS. Just days before Joe's call I had been diagnosed with a serious brain tumor that would require urgent surgery - a frightening time for me, my husband and our three young sons. Although I knew Joe only slightly at the time, he was immediately calm and reassuring. He was confident I would be fine and said I should take my time and join the faculty once I had recovered. I felt so grateful for his compassion and optimism. 

The following year Joe and Molly welcomed us, hosting a dinner at their home where Molly and I quickly bonded over raising three boys. So began a warm and generous friendship—one that would span many years and conversations. It is hard to accept that those conversations have come to an end.

Joe was always an exceptional presence at HKS. His concept of “soft power” transformed how we thought about influence and leadership. But beyond this, Joe's warmth, his humility and his ability to listen made him a beloved colleague and mentor to all, whether they were a first-year lecturer or a senior faculty member. Joe had an unwavering sense of dignity. He also had a terrific sense of humor and always enjoyed sharing a good story. Joe was an optimistic realist, who brought distinction to the School and enriched everyone fortunate enough to know him.

For decades, Joe has been a giant in the world of international affairs, a towering figure at Harvard Kennedy School. He has influenced generations of students, scholars, and decision makers all around the world. His passing is a great loss to our community at a time when we are all in dire need of direction.

Over the years, Joe has become a colleague, a mentor, a friend. 

He encouraged me when I started working on soft power as a young PhD student, he provided his thoughts on my scribblings, he offered to write blurbs and forewords for some of my books. He took time out of his busy schedule to give guest lectures for my students at The University of Bonn. He kindly asked me, last year, if I was interested in contributing the chapter on soft power for the handbook on US foreign policy edited by Michael Cox and Doug Stokes which he had written in earlier editions. When last we parted, he gifted me a copy of his memoirs—and we shared a laugh or two.

These acts of selflessness and kindness show you what kind of a man Joe was. He was a brilliant scholar of unmatched intellect, a public servant of unrivaled integrity, but above all, he always was a mensch.

So long, Joe. Thanks for everything. You have changed a lot of hearts and minds. We will cherish your memory and we will try to live up to your example as best we can.

Joe was a man whose ideas and wisdom have been helping to change the  world over many years and continue to do so. We badly need his thinking and intellectual leadership now, as the international situation darkens and dangers mount, and it is a tragedy for all that he has been taken from us. 

Joe Nye was the Director of the Center for International Affairs when I was a young scholar at the Center working on Gulf issues. I remember writing a paper on security in the region after returning from a research trip in 1991 and sending it to Joe to review. It was a busy time, I did not expect he could take the time to do so. And he did! We had a great meeting. In his warm, respectful, encouraging manner we discussed my travels, the security issues in the Gulf, my paper, and to my surprise he even brought up my possible future paths. 

I attended many, many seminars that Joe convened. No one could introduce and lead a seminar like Joe. He succinctly pointed to the most relevant issues that would be discussed in his usual low key manner. There was no question why the speaker was there and the importance of what we would be hearing and responding to.
When we think of Joe Nye we think of international relations, soft power, diplomacy and more.

There was also the Joe Nye that saw each of us as individuals with something to offer in this world and he was ready to help bring that something to the fore. He was a great scholar and a great human being. He will be greatly missed.