Biography
Richard F. Fenno, Jr. was born on December 12, 1926 in Winchester, Massachusetts. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Fenno attended Amherst College, and in 1948 received his Bachelor’s degree. That same year he married Nancy Davidson. The couple had two children, Mark and Craig. Fenno pursued a PhD in Political Science from Harvard University and completed his degree in 1956. Two years before joining the University of Rochester’s Political Science Department, he taught at Wheaton College, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Amherst College. Fenno joined the University of Rochester’s Political Science Department in 1957. In 1959, Fenno’s PhD dissertation The President’s Cabinet was published by Harvard University Press. Fenno served from 1970-1978 as the Don Alonzo Watson Professor of History and Political Science. In 1978, he was named the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. In 1985, Fenno was named “Distinguished University Professor.” In honor of Fenno’s service to the University, in 2005, the Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Seminar Room was dedicated in Harkness Hall. In 2007, Fenno celebrated his fiftieth year teaching at the University of Rochester.
During his professional career, Fenno served on several national committees and received numerous awards and honors. Between 1975 and 1980, Fenno served as Chairman, Selection Committee and Advisory Committee, American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship Program. In 1974, he was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1976, Fenno was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Fenno received two awards for his book, Home Style. In 1979, he won the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award and the following year the D.B. Hardeman Prize, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. Fenno was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1983. From 1984 – 1985 Fenno served as President of the American Political Science Association. In 1986, the American Political Science Association’s Legislature Studies Section established the Richard F. Fenno Prize for best book on legislative studies. In 1989, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 1994, Lewis and Nancy Kaplan established the Richard F. Fenno Fund to purchase material related to political science for the University of Rochester Libraries. In 2001, Fenno’s book, Congress at the Grassroots won the V. O. Key Award for best book on southern politics.
“Political scientists ought to learn about politicians by talking to them, watching them, and following them around… The aim is to see the world as they see it, to adopt their vantage point on politics. For it is precisely this view, from over the politician’s shoulder, that is now missing from academic research.”
Richard F. Fenno, Jr.
Watching Politicians, 1990
“Observation is at the heart of political analysis. Observing the behavior of U.S. senators involves watching them in two contexts—at home and in the capital city. It also entails sensitivity to the sequences of events or contexts which impinge upon senatorial behavior. Context and sequences of legislative life have not been observed in the rich detail they deserve, because not enough political scientists are presently engaged in observation.”
Richard F. Fenno, Jr.
1981 Presidential Address
American Political Science Association
University of Rochester Political Science Department History
