Alan M. Wachman

Wachman also focussed on Mongolia's international relations, particularly with China and the US. During his last years he was working on completing a book about Mongolia’s national security in the context of emerging rivalries among great powers in Asia.

After a year of battling pancreatic cancer, Alan Wachman died on June 21, 2012 at the age of 53. The Professor Alan M. Wachman Memorial Fund, a scholarship endowed at The Fletcher School in his memory, supports "students engaging in international non-profit work and reflects Alan's fundamental belief in the importance of making the world a better place."

In 1997 he began to work at The Fletcher School as an assistant professor of international politics, later being promoted to associate professor and gaining tenure. Concurrently, he was involved in other positions. Between 2008 and 2009 he was a fellow in the East Asia Institute's Program on Peace, Governance, and Development in East Asia, as a guest lecturer at Peking University in Beijing, East Asia Institute in Seoul, and Keio University in Tokyo.

In 1997 Wachman married Laura Hess, a professor of Chinese at Brown University. They had two children.

Wachman's scholarly work focussed on the study of Chinese foreign relations, Sino-US relations, Taiwan, and cross-strait relations (relations between mainland China and Taiwan). He researched links between diplomatic history and contemporary international security. His books Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization (1994) and Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity (2007) contributed to the understanding of cross-strait relations, and informed policy making. He provided expert testimony to the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

From 1993 and until 1995 he became the American Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC. From 1995 to 1997 he served in New York as the president of China Institute in America.

Wachman subsequently attended The Fletcher School. There he studied international relations as part of the Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy program, graduating in 1984. He continued his graduate studies in government at Harvard University, where he completed a Master of Arts in 1988 and a PhD in 1992. His doctoral dissertation was titled Converging quests: identity, nationalism, and democratization in Taiwan.

Alan Wachman majored in art history at Harvard University. During his studies he took a course in Asian art, sparking his interest in Asia. In 1980 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His undergraduate thesis was A seated wooden Kuan-yin in the Fogg Art Museum: an analysis of style and an examination of Chinese Buddhist iconography. Having completed his degree, he went to teach English in Taiwan. While abroad he met Paul Hsu, alumnus and board member of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, who encouraged him to pursue graduate studies there.

Alan Michael Wachman (Chinese: 华安澜 , pinyin: Huá Ānlán ) (October 13, 1958 – June 21, 2012) was a scholar of East Asian politics and international relations, specializing in cross-strait relations and Sino-U.S. relations. He was a professor of international politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Previously he had been the co-director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC, and the president of China Institute in America.