1949 – 2026
For nearly five decades, Rick Shiels shaped lives through teaching, scholarship, conversation, and an unending curiosity about the world. This site gathers memories, photographs, and words from those who knew and loved him.
Family
Before he was a professor to generations of students, Rick was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend. The memories gathered here reflect not only the reach of his intellect, but the steadiness, humor, and warmth that defined him at home.
Rick was the love of Melissa Heckler's life. Together they built a world rich with conversation, travel, and shared curiosity. He was a wonderful, loving husband: vital, compassionate, full of poetry, stories, and a restless interest in everything from astronomy to human relationships.
He was devoted to his two daughters, Alexandra and Alice, who were among the great joys of his life. And his grandson Oliver Frederick (Ollie) delighted him completely. Rick loved to play with him, even letting Ollie commandeer his phone and press every button. Before Rick left us, he learned that Alice's next son was due on June 10th, his own birthday. Their bond, though too brief, was unmistakable.
His sister Eleanor cherished the time they spent together in his final days, when Rick and Melissa traveled south to revisit Hattiesburg, see lifelong friends, and stay with Eleanor and her husband Bob in Alabama. It was a great last week, full of laughter, old stories, and the warmth of people who had known each other all their lives.
Scholar & Teacher
Rick's academic life was marked by breadth, rigor, and extraordinary devotion. He moved easily across political theory, international relations, history, mediation, literature, and public life, bringing intellectual seriousness and human curiosity into every room and every classroom.
Frederick L. Shiels earned his BA in Political Science from Vanderbilt University, his MA in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and his PhD in Government from Cornell University. His dissertation examined the American experience in Okinawa, foreshadowing a career-long concern with the ethics of American power abroad and the human consequences of policy decisions.
From his arrival at Mercy College in 1978, Rick was an engaged faculty scholar devoted to his students and his studies. He rose to full Professor by 1987 and was appointed Professor Emeritus in 2012, yet continued teaching through the spring of 2026, a career spanning forty-eight years. He authored five books and numerous articles, chapters, and reviews. His scholarship ranged from Cold War alliances and Pacific Rim politics to collateral damage in the post-9/11 wars, always following the arc of American power around the world.
Rick was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, and at the University of Latvia in Riga. He presented his work in London, Copenhagen, Toronto, Oslo, and Tallinn. Colleagues marveled at his facility with languages (he could translate spontaneously in conversation) and his sustained international engagement, from early work in African studies to lasting collaborations with scholars across the globe.
In the classroom, Rick pressed students to reason their way through difficult problems. He developed signature courses on nuclear politics, terrorism, technology and change, and non-fiction as great literature. He founded Mercy's Model United Nations program and directed it for twenty-five years. His home phone number appeared on every syllabus. He regularly placed students in government internships. Again and again, students credited him with transformative influence. As Melissa's brother Joey observed, Rick was simply cut out for teaching.
After completing mediation training, he taught conflict resolution courses for many years, embodying the principles of dialogue and understanding not just in curriculum but in conduct. When team-teaching courses on presidential elections, he modeled balanced, respectful civil discourse. Students across the political spectrum saw him as fair to all.
In his later years, Rick turned to writing poetry, studying at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center and publishing his work. He maintained a political blog and continued working on a book-length study of progressive politics. His creative and civic commitments never dimmed.
Tributes
He was very generous with his time and interest when I first arrived, and we had a number of opportunities over the years to work together on internationally or globally-focused projects. I greatly appreciated his insight, commitment, and intellectual ethos and capacious character. I will miss him, and I am grateful for the chance to be his colleague.
There are certain persons in our lives, the kind of person that, if anything special comes up, you say to yourself, "I have to call Rick and check this out." Such a person was Rick.
Rick had a gentle and kind way about him that students immediately felt. Even when he found himself on the opposite side of an issue, he approached conversations with a calm, respectful tone that reflected the very skills we strive to teach. In many ways, he embodied the spirit of mediation in action.
Professor Shiels was a very understanding professor, a man who was very enthusiastic when discussing certain topics. His knowledge as a historian really made me understand and want to engage with the class. Although I never met Professor Shiels, his character was evident in his frequent posts to all his students.
He was a wonderful loving father, husband, and friend. So vital, compassionate, full of poetry, stories, and curiosity. Several times we'd be somewhere and someone would rush up to him and say, "Professor Shiels, you changed my life."
I also know how much he cared for his students, and how much his students appreciated and enjoyed his classes. Rick was a devoted professor and a great asset to Mercy. I leaned on him several times for advice and direction. This is a huge loss for our community.
Early Life
Frederick Lambert Shiels was born on June 10, 1949, in Wilmington, Delaware. He spent his early childhood between Wilmington and Towson, Maryland, before moving at the age of nine to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins lived.
In Hattiesburg, Rick attended Camp School and Hawkins Junior High before graduating from Hattiesburg High School with academic honors. He was an Eagle Scout, active on the debate team, and a daily piano player. He worked at Delchamps grocery store and later at Waldorf's men's shop in downtown Hattiesburg. He was devoted to his childhood Boston Terrier, Nuisance.
An avid reader with a lifelong passion for travel, politics, and current events, Rick went on to Vanderbilt University, earned his master's at Johns Hopkins, and pursued doctoral work at Cornell and Columbia. Even then, the hallmarks of his life were taking shape: intellectual seriousness, a global perspective, a wry sense of humor, and a deep capacity for friendship and conversation.
The week before his death, Rick and Melissa returned to the South. They traveled to New Orleans, to Hattiesburg, and to Alabama to stay with Eleanor. They visited lifelong friends, looked at his grandparents' home, and spent time with family. It was, by every account, a wonderful final chapter, full of the warmth, laughter, and connection that had defined his life from the very beginning.
Gallery
Share a Memory
If Rick touched your life as a teacher, colleague, friend, or family member, his family would be honored to hear your memories of him.