Henry C. Galant
Henry C. Galant, professor emeritus and founding chair of the Department of Government
at Skidmore, died Nov. 16, 2010, from complications of pneumonia. He was 92.
Born Aug. 1, 1918, in Youngstown, Ohio, Henry was the son of Mary and Walter Galant.
The family lived in Chicago during Henry鈥檚 youth.
Henry started college at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill., and then transferred
to the University of Illinois. He earned an A.B. degree in history in 1940.
After four years in the U.S. Naval Reserve in a variety of locations abroad and one
year in China with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Henry
resumed his studies. He earned a Licence 猫s Sciences Politiques from the University
of Geneva in 1948. He returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Harvard University, where
he earned a master鈥檚 degree in 1950 and a doctorate in comparative government in 1953.
Henry was a keen student of French government and wrote a seminal study on the French
Social Security system that was published in 1955 in Paris. He also wrote numerous
articles on French society, including the political party system. He spent a year
as a Fulbright Fellow in France in the early 1950s and also received research grants
from the Soci茅t茅 de D茅mographie M茅dicale, the American Philosophical Society, and
the Danforth and Mellon foundations, as well as Skidmore.
In 1985 he was invited to Paris to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the French Social
Security system, where he was recognized for his contributions to this area of French
social policy.
He was a member of professional and academic organizations including the American
Political Science Association, the American Academy of Political Science, the International
Political Science Association, the Conference Group on French Politics, and the New
York Political Science Association. In addition to his professional interests, Henry
also was active locally, serving a two-year term on the Saratoga Springs City Charter
Commission.
He began his teaching career at Connecticut College in 1953, and a year later he joined
the faculty of Skidmore College, where he worked until his retirement in 1986. Henry
is credited with starting Skidmore鈥檚 Department of Government and helping it to grow
and flourish during the 25 years that he served as chair. He and his late wife, Eleanore,
were favorites of Skidmore students鈥攖hey often hosted dinners and parties for the
government majors.
Skidmore鈥檚 Alumni Association recognized Henry in 1984 with an Outstanding Service
Award, noting, 鈥淗e is truly the model from which later generations of faculty members
were molded鈥攄eeply committed to teaching, to scholarship, to learning for its own
sake, to helping in the creation of educated people whose lives and work, whatever
their professions, are enriched by their experience with liberal education.鈥�
Skidmore鈥檚 faculty honored Henry in 1966 by selecting him to deliver the Faculty Research
Lecture, a presentation titled 鈥淭he French Doctor and the State.鈥� In 1995, the Henry
and Eleanore Galant Reading Area was designated in Skidmore鈥檚 Lucy Scribner Library.
Henry was predeceased by Eleanore, Skidmore鈥檚 longtime director of publications. They
were married 64 years.