In Memoriam: Theodore C. “Ted” Bestor, 1951–2021

Theodore C. Bestor, Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology at Harvard University, passed away on July 1, 2021, at age 69. Bestor—widely known for his scholarship on Japanese urban life, markets, and food culture—was a Faculty Associate since 2007, and joined the Harvard Anthropology faculty in 2001. He served as chair of the Department of Anthropology from 2007 to 2012, president of the Association for Asian Studies in 2012–2013, and director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies from 2012 to 2018. From 2011, Bestor led Harvard’s efforts to support and study the northeastern Japanese coastal communities impacted by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. He took students to the Tohoku region over several years to help with relief and recovery in small fishing villages. To learn more about Ted Bestor’s life and time at Harvard, read the In Memoriam article at Harvard’s Department of Anthropology.