Dorothy Borg was a distinguished scholar and historian specializing in American – East Asian relations. A prominent researcher in her field, she has mentored, lectured, and directed programs and conferences that furthered the development of East Asian studies. Born in 1902 in Elberon, New Jersey, she graduated from Wellesley in 1923 and went on to receive her master’s degree in 1931 and doctoral degree in 1946 at Columbia University.
She was a research associate at the Institute of Pacific Relations from 1938 – 1959, including three years in Beijing and Shanghai. At Peking National University, she was a member of the political science department and taught a course in international relations from 1947 – 1948. At Harvard University, she was a research associate at the East Asian Research Center from 1959 – 1961. Finally, at Columbia University, she received a presidential appointment as a Senior Research Associate at the East Asian Institute from 1962 until her retirement.
Her writings include American Policy and the Chinese Revolution, 1925 – 1928 (New York: American Institute of Pacific Relations; Macmillan, 1947). She also co-authored with Shumpei Okamoto, Pearl Harbor as History: Japanese-American Relations, 1931 – 1941 (Columbia University Press, 1973). Another co-authored work is Uncertain Years: Chinese American Relations, 1947 – 1950 (Columbia University Press, 1980) with Waldo H. Heinrichs. One of her most notable works in which she received the prestigious Bancroft Prize in American History is for her book The United States and the Far Eastern Crisis of 1933 – 1938 (Harvard University Press, 1964) awarded to her in 1965.
She died at the age of 91 in New York City.
