Paul Hauben, professor emeritus of history, passed away June 24, a week before his 88th birthday. He taught at University of the Pacific for over 25 years. 

Hauben joined Pacific as an associate professor of history in 1969, after teaching at Michigan State University. The Korean War veteran earned professor emeritus status in 1994 upon his retirement from the university. During his tenure at Pacific, Hauben served as associate dean and chair of the history department. In 1973, Hauben and seven other Pacific faculty members were named Outstanding Educators of America, which was a national award that honored faculty for their service, achievements and leadership in the field of education. 

Hauben developed two innovative courses at Pacific: “Totalitarian Experience,” which examined the Nazi and Soviet eras strictly through their concentration and labor camps, and a course based on the 13-part television documentary “The Ascent of Man,” which was taught by more than two dozen faculty members. 

“I never had a bored student in that course,” he said of his Totalitarian Experience course. “I taught it three times, and I had between 15 and 20 students. Everybody got grabbed.” 

The Brooklyn-born Hauben choose to teach at Pacific “because I found in my previous job that big schools and I were not a fit,” he said during an interview by the Emeriti Society in 2014 

In 1994, Hauben was awarded the Order of Pacific, the highest honor Pacific gives recognizing members of the university who have given distinguished service and made outstanding contributions over a significant number of years. 

Throughout his life Hauben remained passionate about history and politics—frequently writing letters to the local paper. Hauben, who published two textbooks on the Spanish Inquisition and Reformation, earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Brooklyn College and his doctorate from Princeton University in 1963. Before Pacific, Hauben taught at Portland State College, Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and University of California, Davis. 

Hauben was preceded in death by his parents, Sam and Adele; his former wife and mother of his children, Janet; and his late wives, Jeanne and Louene. He is survived by his partner, Shirley Dozier; his children, Rachel Hauben Combs, John Hauben and Karen Hauben; his stepson, Tom Brown; his grandsons, Samuel Combs, Erik Brown, Kirk Brown, Blake Brown and Cort Brown; his sister, Judith Overton; and his niece and nephew, Andrea Warriner and Matthew Roth. A memorial service will be held at a later date.