Alma Lowell Dittmer was born in 1942, to Veda and Alma Dittmer, the latter of whom he would be named after. Initially born into a Mormon family, Dittmer would begin to describe himself as atheist or agnostic following a church-sponsored mission to Switzerland.[1]
After graduation, Dittmer would pursue a Master's degree and PhD from the University of Chicago, both of which he would receive in 1967 and 1971 respectively. Over the course of his time in Chicago, Dittmer would learn Mandarin Chinese. Dittmer's dissertation, Liu Shao-Ch'i and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, would become his first published book. In 1974, he would marry his wife, Helen.[1]
In 1978, he would officially join the University of California, Berkeley, as a professor, where he would later become chair of the UC Center for Chinese Studies between the years of 1979 to 1983 and director for the university's study abroad program in Beijing between 1997 and 1999. Dittmer would serve as an editor for Asian Survey from 1990 to 2001, and would serve in the capacity of editor-in-chief from 2001 until 2019. Additionally, he was a research fellow at the Smithsonian Institution from 1986 to 1987.[1]
Dittmer would officially retire from teaching in 2022,[2] but would remain academically active, publishing his final work, New Asian Disorder: Rivalries Embroiling the Pacific Century, in the same year. On April 15, 2024, Dittmer passed away in Oakland, California at the age of 82.[1][2]
Dittmer, Lowell (2005). South Asia's Nuclear Security Dilemma: India, Pakistan, and China. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN978-1317459569.
Journal Articles
Dittmer, Lowell (July 1977). "Political Culture and Political Symbolism: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis". World Politics. 29 (4): 552–583. doi:10.2307/2010039.
Dittmer, Lowell (October 1978). "Bases of Power in Chinese Politics: A Theory and an Analysis of the Fall of the "Gang of Four"". World Politics. 31 (1): 26–60. doi:10.2307/2009966.
Dittmer, Lowell (July 1981). "The Strategic Triangle: An Elementary Game-Theoretical Analysis". World Politics. 33 (4): 485–515. doi:10.2307/2010133.