Dear Center for Global Studies Community, Colleagues, and Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that Edward A. Kolodziej, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and founding Director of the Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, passed away bravely and peacefully at home on January 18 at the age of 91, after a month in hospice following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
As the founder and former Director of the Center for Global Studies (CGS) from 2000-2016, Ed provided the initial vision for the campus to pursue new forms of interdisciplinary research, teaching, and public engagement around the principle that the disciplines and departments as configured were no longer capable of providing the insights and analysis necessary to pose and answer the multiple - and as Ed often noted - cascading problems facing a rapidly growing and increasingly intertwined global population. Through his leadership, CGS emerged first as the Office on Globalization and soon Center for Global Studies, where he successfully led five national grant competitions from 2000-2014 for funding and designation as a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education – a designation that CGS still holds this day. He attracted more than seven million dollars in private and public funding to support the research, teaching, and outreach of the University of Illinois, notably in security and global studies.
Ed’s leadership as CGS Director led to the funding of nearly 250 fellowships to graduate and undergraduate students pursuing both language and global studies; launched innovative new campus programs such as the successful Global Studies Education M.Ed. and PhD programs developed with Fazal Rizvi; and led to a proliferation of campus courses, certificates, and programs focused on global phenomenon. If these contributions to the University of Illinois were not enough, Ed’s capacious energy and frenetic pace also contributed to the founding of the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International where he served as Director from 1983-1986 and 2010-16.
Within CGS, Professor Kolodziej successfully spearheaded the launch of the graduate minor in Global Studies, which enables students to gain a deeper understanding of the processes of globalization and public policy demands of the challenges confronting the world’s populations. The Global Studies minor laid the groundwork for CGS’ new Master of Science in Global Studies, a multi-track graduate program launched in the fall of 2025 that builds on the minor to prepare graduates to meet the intellectual and practical challenges facing global governance and civil society organizations. As Director and Director-Emeritus, Ed contributed intellectually to these programs, developing and teaching Global Society (GLBL 500), the foundational course for both the Global Studies minor and master’s program. Using Professor Kolodziej’s framework of Order, Welfare and Legitimacy (OWL), Global Society examines three propositions: (1) the existence of a global society; (2) the flaws of its principal, global institutions – the state, markets, and democracy; and (3) absent their reform, whether the global society is at risk. Ed’s seminal books Governing Globalization: Challenges for Democracy and Global Society (Rowman/Littlefield, 2016), and Global Governance: Evaluating the Liberal Democratic, Chinese, and Russian Solutions (Routledge, 2022), provide the basis for students’ exploration of the struggles between democratic and authoritarian regimes to determine global governance. After Professor Kolodziej’s retirement, he continued to guest lecture in GLBL 500, providing multidisciplinary theoretical rigor to classroom discussions and challenging students to consider alternative structures, solutions, and institutions to advance global governance. In collaboration with colleagues such as Hadi Esfahani, Zsuzsa Gille, and Patrick Keenan, Ed also helped develop the Global Perspectives graduate seminar (GLBL 501) which annually draws an interdisciplinary cohort of graduate students from programs across campus to actively pursue research methods and epistemological frameworks for understanding our world and addressing the challenges that humans face collectively.
Ed remained active and involved in center programs and events, such as serving as the Keynote speaker for the 2017 Joint Area Center Symposium on Governing Globalization: Challenges for Democracy and Global Society – a conference organized to honor his contributions to the field. CGS also hosted a book launch and discussion for his foundational text: Governing Globalization: Challenges for Democracy and Global Society (Rowman/Littlefield, 2016), where once again Ed was a featured speaker. As recently as September 2025, Ed was an invited guest to CGS’ MillerComm lecture with Allison Stanger, where he happily engaged with students, staff, and faculty alike. We at CGS will cherish the fond memories of Ed at that post-talk dinner, regaling us with stories of his experiences and travels, exploring the implications of AI on a global society, and all the while passing around the red wine for all to enjoy.
Professor Kolodziej was a sage instructor, a powerful lecturer, an astute administrator, and a mentor and friend to many. Although this is an immense loss, CGS will continue to honor his memory through continuing to build successful programs in Global Studies, teaching his foundational course on Global Society and highlighting his visionary and provocative work to inspire our CGS community through globalizing our research, teaching, and outreach missions of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ed’s family is organizing a (non-religious) memorial and celebration of life, to be held on February 28 from 11-3 PM at the iHOTEL with a luncheon at 12. The family requests that donations in Ed Kolodziej’s name may be made to the Center for Global Studies: https://go.cgs.illinois.edu/GivetoCGS. Encomiums, words of remembrance, etc. may be sent to CGS at global-studies@illinois.edu and to Ed’s son Andrew at this email address (akoloj@gmail.com). Please also see the Ed's obituary for American Political Science Association (APSA) written by Paul Diehl (UIUC) and Jeanie Bukowski (Bradley).
Warmly,
Steve Witt
Steve Witt PhD
Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
International and Area Studies Library, Head
Center for Global Studies, Director
MS in Global Studies, Program Director
IFLA Journal, Editor