In Memory of Dr. Ellis Sandoz Jr.
Decorated scholar Dr. Ellis Sandoz 92, died peacefully Tuesday evening (9/19) following a slow decline in health. The New Orleans native was a husband of over a half a century, father of four, with 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He taught thousands of students over 50 years, while writing 10 scholarly books and editing many more. His teaching career began at Louisiana Tech, then he moved to the former East Texas State University (now Texas A&M – Commerce), and settled at Louisiana State University.
At LSU, he taught for 35 years and was named the Hermann Moyse Distinguished Professor of Political Science – retiring at 83. Sandoz was born in New Orleans Feb. 10, 1931 to Dr. George Ellis Sandoz, a dentist, originally from Opelousas, La. and Ruby Odom Sandoz, from Batesville, Ms.Sandoz has been honored for his scholarly writings and thought in America, Canada, Norway, Italy, Guatemala, and he even guided the establishment of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Professor Rouven J. Steeves, of the Air Force Academy, in his review of Sandoz's "Give Me Liberty", said: "Ellis Sandoz is a metaphysician of the soul, mystic of the Christian faith, and a scientist of politics." Sandoz joined the LSU political science department in 1978, becoming its chairman the next year. Sandoz also founded the Eric Voegelin Institute for American Renaissance Studies. Voegelin was a former LSU professor who had barely evaded capture by the Gestapo in Nazi Germany before coming to teach in Louisiana. Sandoz studied with Voegelin as an undergraduate at LSU and was immediately impressed with the German philosopher.
As an undergrad, Sandoz played trumpet in the LSU marching band as well as leading his fraternity as commander (Sigma Nu – Phi Chapter). After graduation and a master's at LSU, Sandoz joined the Marines in 1953, serving at Camp Pendleton in California, where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant before his honorable discharge in 1956. Post graduate stops included studies at Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina. He took a teaching post in 1959 at Louisiana Tech in Ruston – where he also started a chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Taking a hiatus from Tech in 1964 - 65, Sandoz went to the University of Munich to complete his doctorate with Voegelin – he is the only American to do so. Meanwhile, Sandoz had met and married a fellow Shreveporter, the former Alverne Hubley in 1957. She was a Centenary College grad intent on pursuing a career singing opera, having pulled off leading roles in "Susannah" and "Madame Butterfly." Fate had sent the two grad students to Heidelburg, Germany at that time – she at the Heidelburg Conservatory as a lyric soprano and he, having earned a Fulbright Fellowship for his work at the University of Heidelburg. After marrying in 1957 and the birth of their first child Ellis III in 1958, Alverne switched career goals to focus on raising the family.
By 1967, the couple had four children – Ellis III, Lisa, Erica and Jonathan. In 1968, Sandoz headed to ETSU, as chairman of the newly created political science department. At ET he worked to create strong graduate level students and to encourage promising minds to aim high. One of those students was a Mesquite policeman named Ted Lyon. He credits Sandoz with inspiring him to pursue law school, then politics. He went on to win election to the Texas House and later the Senate. Sandoz was proud of Lyon. He would also join Sandoz in conferences to help establish east European governments. After the 1989 Velvet Revolution which split Czechoslovakia into two countries, Sandoz addressed their Federal Assembly on The Federalist Papers. He also organized a series of conferences over a couple of years in the Czech Republic. He was working with President Vaclav Havel, Sen. Lyon, and other leaders regarding constitutionalism for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. He was awarded the University Medal and Rector's Certificate by Palacky University of Olomouc, Czech Republic in 1995. That same year, he traveled to Norway to present a series of lectures on Voegelin in Trondheim, sponsored by the University of Oslo. He lectured often throughout the U.S. and Canada. He founded the Eric Voegelin Society; he was elected president of the Philadelphia Society. He also lectured at the University of Genoa and the University Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala. At LSU, Sandoz was awarded the university's Gold Medal as Distinguished Research Master. He was also inducted to Phi Beta Kappa as the chapter's first alumnus member. He was appointed by Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1982 to the National Council for the Humanities. In 2014, the Library of Congress called on Sandoz to consult in setting up a major exhibit on the Magna Carta on its 800th anniversary. Sandoz viewed his life's work as a calling, he said.
Sandoz was preceded in death by his devoted wife Alverne on June 25, 2011. Survivors include: son George Ellis Sandoz III; grandson Eric Michael Sandoz (and wife Sierra Moore Sandoz); step-grandson Brian White (and wife Casey Johnston White); step-great-granddaughter Kaiya Crawley; daughter Lisa Sandoz Robinson (and husband Michael Robinson); granddaughter Claire Robinson (and husband David Hayes); great-grandson Charles "Charlie" Hayes-Robinson; granddaughter Rachel Robinson; granddaughter Genevieve Robinson; daughter Erica Sandoz Cooper (and husband John Cooper, USMC, ret.); grandson Benjamin Cooper, (and fiancee Eden Rucker); grandson Stephen Cooper (and wife Iyanah Cooper); son Jonathan David Sandoz (and wife Elizabeth Sandoz); granddaughter Elizabeth Sandoz; grandson Duncan Sandoz (and wife Leah Sandoz); grandson Zachary Sandoz.
Published by The Advocate from Sep. 26 to Sep. 28, 2023.
In memory of Dr. Sandoz, we have established a fund at LSU to support a lecture series that will be hosted by the The Eric Voegelin Institute. The series will be devoted to two topics at the center of Dr. Sandoz's academic work: the thought of Eric Voegelin and the understanding of American constitutionalism and its sources. This fund will help perpetuate Dr. Sandoz's passion for intellectual growth and scholarly excellence, ensuring that his impact continues to be felt by future generations of students and scholars. Your support in contributing to this fund would be greatly appreciated by his family and all those who were inspired by his work.