John Henry Romani

in Milan Italy on March 6, 1925 he was the son of Henry A. and B. Hazel Pettengill Romani. He

grew up in Milford, New Hampshire and after military service in World War II attended the

University of New Hampshire from which he received his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in

Government. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan following

which he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. He held

faculty appointments at the University of New Hampshire, Western Michigan University and the

University of Pittsburgh prior to joining the faculty of the University of Michigan School of

Public Health, where he served for over 30 years. He was Associate Dean of that School as well

as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University. He also served briefly as

Vice Chancellor and Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Throughout his career he worked with a wide variety of governmental and non-governmental

agencies on issues associated with the organization and administration of public health activities,

both domestically and internationally. Among his professional activities were his service on the

National Council of the American Society for Public Administration and as President of the

American Public Health Association. A committed classroom teacher he continued, after his

formal retirement from the University of Michigan in 1993, to teach both at the School of Public

Health and in the University of Michigan Program in the Environment. His post-retirement years

were also taken up with research on issues of population and health in South Africa where he and

his wife, Professor Barbara Anderson of the University of Michigan Department of Sociology,

who survives him, have spent time each year since 1999 working with colleagues there.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sons David (Betty) of Durham, North

Carolina and Paul (Theresa) of Beltsville, Maryland. He is also survived by his step-daughter

Theresa (Arun Rajmohan) of Arlington, Virginia and three granddaughters, Heather, Emily and

Celia. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Cynthia, and his former wife, Nina.

A wake will be held at Muehlig Funeral home in Ann Arbor on Sunday, August 16 at

5:00 (comments at 5:30), and a funeral will be held at St, Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann

Arbor Michigan on Monday, August 17 at 3:00. In lieu of flowers memorial gifts can be made to

one of the following activities with which he has been involved: Breakfast at St. Andrews

(breakfastatstandrews.org), the Class of 1948 Endowed Scholarship at the University of New

Hampshire (UNH Foundation, Elliott Alumni Center, 9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824),

or the University of Michigan School of Public Health Special Scholarship Fund

(sph.umich.edu).