Necrology

Jeswald William Salacuse '60

Jan. 28, 1938-Jul. 25, 2024

Jeswald William Salacuse, ’60, P’89 died on July 25, 2024, in Boston. Born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., on Jan. 28, 1938, Jes came to Hamilton from Niagara Falls High School with ambitions to be a lawyer. On the Hill, he became a member of the Emerson Literary Society and majored in history. He was in the Newman Club during his first two years and on the staff of The Spectator every year save his junior year, serving as an editor as a senior.

Jes also had a keen interest in French and was a member of the French Club, becoming its secretary in his senior year. Of greater significance was that he participated in Hamilton’s Junior Year in France program, in only its second year (1958-59). Not content simply to spend a year in France, he earned a diploma in French literature from the University of Paris as well.

This experience proved transformative. In 1985, in his 25th reunion yearbook, Jes noted: “Hamilton introduced me to the world outside of the United States. As a result of my undergraduate education, and particularly my year in France, I became deeply interested in international studies and determined to work in international affairs.”

Graduating with honors in public speaking, Jes also received the Henry M. Love Scholarship awarded to a senior member of ELS who intends to pursue a career in one of several professions, including law. As he noted in a letter of thanks to Sidney Bennett, director of admission at the College, this scholarship covered most of his expenses during his first year at Harvard Law School, where he would earn his J.D. in 1963. 

Immediately thereafter, although his father reportedly expected him to return to Buffalo and join the family law firm, Jes began work in international affairs by joining the Peace Corps as a member of the African Regional Lawyers Program. He served as a lecturer in law at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, studied African tribal law, and co-authored a book on Nigerian family law during a two-year assignment.

Returning to New York in 1965, he became an associate attorney in the Wall Street firm Conboy, Hewitt, O’Brian & Boardman. During this time he met Donna Booth, a native of Chicago, and they married in 1966. They would have two daughters. In 1967, he moved to Columbia University where he became associate director of its African Law Center.

In 1968, Jes and Donna left the United States for Africa where he accepted an assignment from the Ford Foundation to establish a research center and teach law at the National School of Administration in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). 

Three years later, he was appointed regional advisor on law and development for the Ford Foundation, based in Beirut, Lebanon, and worked with a number of Middle Eastern governments on a variety of projects. In 1974, he and his family relocated to Khartoum, Sudan, where he established the Ford Foundation’s office, serving as its representative to the country. He also accepted an appointment as visiting professor of law at the University of Khartoum.

In 1977, the Salacuse family returned to America, and Jes spent a year as a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School conducting research on the emerging financial institutions of the Middle East, specifically studying legal mechanisms for sending Arab petrodollars to Third World countries. The project was underwritten by the Ford Foundation. 

Jes departed Cambridge for Dallas in 1978 to join the School of Law at Southern Methodist University. By 1980, he had been appointed dean of the law school, a position he held until 1987 when he became dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. 

By that time in his career, Jes had become a leading scholar in international law and, more particularly, international business law, an area in which the Fletcher School had a particular interest. He remained its dean until 1994, when he stepped down from administrative duty to occupy the Henry J. Braker chair in commercial law. In 2016, he was appointed distinguished professor of the Fletcher School, and, beginning in 1995, he was also a visiting professor at the University of London. All evidence suggests that for Jes, retirement was inconceivable.

An extraordinarily prolific scholar who penned numerous scholarly papers, he authored more than 15 books on the fields of international negotiation process, law and development, corporate governance and leadership, and international business practices. One of these was a two-volume work on the nations of Francophone Africa. Another was a multivolume text, International Business Planning. A third was How to Manage Smart, Talented, Rich, and Powerful People, which The Toronto Globe and Mail chose as one of its 10 best books on business in 2006. Battling cancer at the end, he completed his final work, The Institution Builder’s Toolbox: Strategies for Negotiating Change, just weeks before he died.

Not surprisingly, Jes was a sought-after consultant by multinational companies, government agencies, international organizations, universities, foundations, and foreign governments. In 2000, he served as Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Comparative Law at the University of Trento in Italy. He chaired the board of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and held a comparable position for the India Fund that invested primarily in the equity securities of Indian companies. At different times, Jes was president of several investment arbitration tribunals and of the Tufts Faculty Senate.

His time in Paris during his junior year at Hamilton under the direction of Professor Frank Hamlin was foundational to his subsequent, highly accomplished career. As Jes noted in his 40th class reunion yearbook, the College’s impact upon his life and values derived from his “orientation to international affairs, effective speaking and writing, analytical thinking, [and] an understanding and appreciation of the world’s glorious diversity.” 

Jes was in turn a generous supporter of the College through the Hamilton Fund. He returned to campus to speak to interested students at the Levitt Center as well as at the Career Center and was a substantial donor to the bicentennial capital campaign, the Joan Stewart Scholarship, the Eugene Tobin Endowed Professorship, and the Winton Tolles Lecture Series, and to support both performing arts and athletic facilities. In all, his donations extended over 43 years.

Jeswald W. Salacuse is survived by his wife, son Bill Salacuse ’89, daughter, and three grandchildren.

Necrology Home