Archives West Finding Aid

The University of Idaho's "man of many hats," Herbert Sydney Duncombe was born in New York, where from 1950 to 1954 he worked for the State Division on the Budget. He earned a B.A. degree from Yale University in 1948, an MPA in 1955 from Syracuse, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1963. He taught Political Science at the University of Idaho from 1962 until his retirement in 1988 at the age of 61, with a one year break in 1971 when he worked in Boise as Budget Director of Idaho.

At the University he was known for his innovative teaching style in which he donned different hats and assumed different characters to illustrate events in the world of politics. He was also director of the Bureau of Public Affairs Research. Active in university affairs, he served on the Committee on Committees, the Truman Scholarship Committee, the Committee for the Institute for Pacific Northwest Studies, and the Academic Committee of the University Centennial Committee. He has written five books, contributed chapters to ten others, and has a long list of publications in scholarly journals. He was active in the Idaho Political Science Association, the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, the American Society for Public Administration, Phi Delta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. His honors include the Boyd A. Martin Award given annually by the Association of Idaho Cities for exceptional contributions to city government in Idaho and the Marvin Kimberling Award given by the Idaho City Clerks and Finance Officers Association. He now resides in Veneta, Oregon.

The papers of Sydney Duncombe span the years 1962 to 1988, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1974 to 1986. Included are materials related to the organization of the Idaho Political Science Association, memoranda, correspondence and reports reflecting his involvement as chairman of the Academic Subcommittee of the Centennial Committee, course outlines, self evaluations of his teaching and courses, research materials for his work on Idaho election statistics, and mimeographed articles by Duncombe.

Approximately one cubic foot of material with the original Duncombe accession was transferred to the University Archives accessions to be processed with the Bureau of Public Affairs Research records.