John Peter Grothe
May 28, 1931-June 16, 2012
Los Altos, California

John Peter Grothe, who celebrated life with passion and enthusiasm, passed away on Saturday, June 16th in Los Altos, Calif., from brain injury caused by a fall. He was 81.

He is survived by sister Carol Stevens of Palo Alto and half siblings, Tom Grothe of Chico and Heidi Carman of San Rafael. Born in San Francisco on May 28, 1931, to Walter and Dorothy Grothe, he was raised in Hillsborough, Calif. He earned BA and MA degrees in Journalism from Stanford University and a PHD in Political Science from George Washington University.

His proudest achievement was drafting the original Peace Corps legislation and giving it the name "The Peace Corps" in 1960 when he worked as Foreign Relations Adviser and Speech Writer for Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. In 1961 he was appointed Deputy Director, U.N. Division of the U.S. Peace Corps.

For the past 31 years Dr. Grothe was an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of International Policy Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), where he taught Cross-cultural Communications and American Politics and was the Director of International Student Programs. Prior to coming to MIIS Dr. Grothe taught at San Jose State University, Odense University in Denmark, and State University of New York, Stony Brook. He was a Visiting Research Scholar in Sweden and Norway. He lectured in over 51 countries, 26 of those for the U.S. Information Agency.

Dr. Grothe was the author of "To Win the Minds of Men -- a Study of the Propaganda War in East Germany" and wrote numerous scholarly articles in the American Political Science Review, Western Political Quarterly, the N.Y. Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He served with the American Field Service as an adviser, leader and volunteer.

At MIIS Dr. Grothe was a "father figure," mentor and friend who inspired, guided and cared for his students. He made a financial commitment to enable 145 highly qualified international and minority students to pursue their education. You may honor Dr. Grothe's memory by making a donation to the "Peter Grothe Scholarship Fund for Women in Developing Countries." Checks may be mailed to: MIIS Institutional Advancement Office 460 Pierce St. Monterey, CA 93940

Tags: teacher/educator, public service