Valerie A. Earle, professor emeritus at Georgetown University, died at the age of 85 on August 20, 2004. Her death came unexpectedly because of heart problems.

Valerie was a bona fide native Texan. Born in Houston, she grew up in Eagle Pass, and earned her B.A. (1940), M.A. (1944), and Ph.D. (1950) degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Her early teaching included assistant professorships at San Francisco State College (1949–1950) and the University of Alabama (1950–1953). In 1955 she began a life-long career at Georgetown University. The first woman member of the liberal arts faculty at Georgetown College, she quickly established herself as an outstanding teacher. Although she retired from full-time teaching in 1986, she continued part-time teaching in the Liberal Studies Program of her beloved university, despite the handicap of confinement to a wheelchair, until the end of the 2003–2004 academic year. In fact, she was busily planning her course for the fall semester of 2004 when she suddenly fell fatally ill.

Valerie's initial teaching and research interests were in the field of public administration. It was in this field that she taught at San Francisco State College and the University of Alabama. She, individually, and then in collaboration with her husband, Chester B. Earle, published a number of studies in the Inter-University Case Program as well as for the Bureau of Public Administration of the University of Alabama in the 1950s. In 1965–1966, she served as managing editor of Public Administration Review.

Upon her arrival at Georgetown University, her teaching interests began to shift to the field of American constitutional law. An early indication was her editorship and contribution to Federalism: Infinite Variety in Form and Practice in 1968. By the 1970s, Valerie had established her courses on American constitutional law as core elements of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum for students majoring in American government. After retirement, she did not lose her interest in constitutional law, but concentrated her part-time teaching on particular aspects of the subject, with courses titled Equality under the Law: The American Political Tradition and Rights and; Rights and the Law: The Role of Courts in Defining Individual Rights.

Compulsively energetic, Valerie was active in any number of causes: the affairs of the department of government, the University, and development of political science as a discipline. With respect to her department, she campaigned vigorously and successfully that the department join Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honorary society originally established at her alma mater. In her unassuming, nevertheless persistent, way she advocated that the departmental faculty have a greater say in important decisions affecting them. Thanks to her initiative and effective mobilization, the department became the first major University department to introduce faculty input into the determination of annual faculty increases and the choice of incoming faculty. Elected chairperson in 1972 because of her efforts, she became the first woman to head a major department of the University.

In 1960–1961, Valerie served as president of the University chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Early on, she also joined the cause of establishing a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Whatever the obstacles at the time, her efforts along with those of other faculty members paid off. Delta chapter of the District of Columbia was formed in 1965. Consistent with her role in the department, Valerie insisted that the University faculty have a more effective voice in the University's decision making. In 1964, she was elected president of an assembly chosen from all units of the University for the purpose of drawing up a constitution for a faculty senate. Writing large parts of the constitutional draft herself, it was formally approved by the assembly and then the University board of directors in 1965. Not surprisingly, Valerie Earle was the first president of the newly constituted faculty senate during 1967–1969. In 1981, she was reelected for a second term. As successive university presidents were to discover, Valerie was a staunch defender of meaningful faculty participation in University decisions.

Apart from her involvement in department and University affairs, Valerie remained continuously active in the development of her discipline in the wider community. In December, 1961, she was elected vice president of the D.C. Political Science Association. In 1971, she served on the APSA Education Committee. In 1972–1974 she was a member of the APSA Council and in that capacity served as a member of the Administrative Committee in 1973. In 1974–1975, she was a member of the APSA Trust and Development Committee. Moreover, in the mid-1970s, she began and then continued to serve until her death as consulting editor of World Affairs and associate editor of Perspectives on Political Science.

Valerie's legacy will undoubtedly be twofold. In first instance, she helped bring about institutional developments for the faculty of Georgetown University at a time when this rather small, essentially teaching institution was in the process of becoming a major university. More and more faculty members were lay people, not religious. Their increasing numbers helped bring on a sense of corporate identity as faculty with claims to recognition and participation. Valerie understood this process of change and was able to take the lead in articulating and shaping the growing awareness among the faculty that they should no longer be merely at the receiving end of University administrative decisions. Academic departments and their schools underwent restructuring and the faculty senate emerged at the all-University level. That the University recognized and appreciated the role Valerie played during her more than 30 years of service was highlighted when she was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at the Faculty Convocation of November 15, 1986.

Valerie's other lasting legacy is to be found in the impact she had on countless undergraduate and graduate students. Her role model as a teacher had been Professor Emmett Redford at her alma mater. His high standards and expectation of academic excellence became Valerie's benchmarks. This did not mean, however, that students dealt with a disciplinarian. Although very much the dignified lady, Valerie had a warm, sympathetic personality that shared confidences and gave assurance of willingness to help out. Moreover, Valerie kept in touch with her students after they left Georgetown. Nothing pleased her more than to receive news about their careers and families. An even better treat was a personal visit from a former student to her home with the chance for an extended conversation. A tribute to her impact as a teacher was provided by a former student who established the Peter G. Kelly John Carroll Scholarship “in honor of Valerie Earle” to be awarded preferably to students “who have indicated an interest in Political Science as a major field of study.”

In a very real sense, Valerie was and will remain Miss Georgetown, the conscience of the University and its commitment to academic excellence. It is most fitting that in her will an important portion of her estate was set aside for the establishment of the Valerie and Chester Earle Lectureship in the department of government.