George William O’Connor ’54

George William O’Connor ’54 passed away on February 15 in Troy, New York. George came to Dartmouth from West Orange, New Jersey, where he attended high school. At Dartmouth he was a government major and a member of the Dartmouth Christian Union and the Newman Club. After Dartmouth he received a master’s in criminology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962. From 1956 to 1958 he served as a police officer in Oakland, California. In 1958 he became a scientific investigator and clinical instructor in criminology at Case Western Reserve University and in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, coroner’s office. He became director of public safety in Cleveland and then director of the criminal justice system at the University of Miami. Between 1973 and 1987 he served as commissioner of public safety in Troy. George taught at several universities, including the University of California, Case Western Reserve, American University, and the University of Miami. After retiring as commissioner, George served as a consultant, performing evaluation and accreditation for many police departments nationwide. Starting in 1989 he worked with a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice to help to develop and refocus the police services in Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras. George is survived by his wife, Terry, and children Timothy, Douglas, Justin, and Tracy.