ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan has learned that Donald E. Stokes, former dean of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies and professor of political science at U-M, died of acute leukemia Jan. 26 in Philadelphia. He was 69.

Stokes, professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University since 1974 and dean of its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs from 1974 to 1992, taught at the U-M from 1957 to 1974. He served as dean of Rackham from 1971 to 1974.

“Don Stokes was a pioneer in the development of modern political science and a distinguished builder of academic programs, both at Princeton and previously at the University of Michigan,” said former U-M President Harold T. Shapiro, now president of Princeton.

A specialist in public opinion research, Stokes was known for his studies of American and British voting behavior. He co-wrote the books “The American Voter,” “Elections and the Political Order” and “Political Change in Britain,” all published while he was a U-M faculty member in the 1960s.

While at Princeton, his interests turned to the science policies of the federal government and the relationship between basic and applied science.

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