Joseph Cropsey (1919-2012) was adistinguished service professor emeritus in the department of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught since 1958. He previously was on the faculty of the City College of New York and theNew School for Social Research. His scholarly work examined classicalpoliticalthinkers such asSocrates andPlato, as well as the foundations of modern liberalism inThomas Hobbes and Adam Smith. Healso collaborated withLeo Strauss, co-editing the inflential overview of Western political thought "History of Political Philosophy".