Mac political junkie retiring after 51 years
It’s a long time since Henry Jacek was a “a foot soldier” in JFK’s 1960 election campaign, despite being too young to vote in his American homeland.
Jacek is now a longtime Canadian, having spent an impressive 51 years teaching political science in the hallowed halls of academia at McMaster.
At 76, he’s retiring — as of July 1. But the professor still has plenty of politics flowing through his veins. Clearly.
He continues to be involved with the media, former students and politicians of all stripes.
“I just love to talk politics — what’s going on, why people are doing what they are doing,” he said when reached at his Dundas home recently.
Jacek is best known publicly for his political commentary, both locally and on a national scale. He is often called upon by journalists for observations and insights into Canada’s governments, politics and public policy.
He has, through the years, also been called upon occasionally by politicians or prospective candidates for advice or to be a sounding board.
At Mac, he is not only the public face of his department, he is also dedicated to his students, says political science department chair Karen Bird.
Known as Hank by his colleagues, Jacek “has helped literally hundreds of students to pursue their career in public service, law, education, electoral politics, marketing, business and a myriad of other fields.”
Bird said Jacek, who has received several university awards, has had a major impact on the students, igniting their passion for politics and policy, a passion that has often led them to employment opportunities.
Jacek is a unique resource for students, she says, adding he is also a unique resource for the community through his news commentary.
“If people know about political science at McMaster, it’s most likely because they read a story with Hank commenting.”
He has also helped his students gain insight by bringing in speakers and politicians, including a sitting premier, to his classes — and through the student Ontario Legislature Internship Programme at Queen’s Park.
Jacek says he has a high respect for people in politics, and “I love talking to journalists too.”
He’s so helpful to students looking for jobs that some joke he runs an employment service at Mac, says Greg Crone, a former student, former journalist and now policy adviser to Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
As a Queen’s Park reporter, Crone used to called Jacek for a quote because of his “encyclopedic knowledge of federal, provincial and local politics.”
Adds Crone, “He stays in touch with students over decades. I’m an example of that.”
Jacek says, “I love when my students are happy.”
It’s why he’s been university bedel since 2006 — so he could see their happy faces at graduation.
The bedel carries the university mace during convocations.
Jacek was 25 when he started at Mac in 1967 and planned to stay only five years.
Born and raised in Connecticut, he stumbled upon the job while considering positions in the United States. His doctoral adviser had heard about it, called him and “said McMaster needs someone like you,” Jacek says.
“I was lucky. At that time, there were a lot of jobs, and the universities were expanding.”
McMaster “was fantastic. They treated me well. We (he and his wife Cathy) moved to Dundas, and we found people were so nice to us. We started having kids, so after five years, we were very comfortable.”
Sometime in the 1980s or ’90s, he can’t remember exactly when, they became Canadian citizens.
Decades earlier in the U.S., he became politically active at age 12, putting bumper stickers on cars. A scholarship from a Polish veterans’ association (his grandparents were Polish) took him to a boys’ residential high school in Erie, Pa., where he listened to CBC radio and watched CTV News broadcast across the border.
Jacek got his PhD at Georgetown University on a full scholarship. He loved debating in high school and, by university, he was vice-president of College Democrats of Connecticut.
The party tried to groom him to run for Congress, but his then future wife was adamant she wouldn’t marry a politician because they’re never home, he says. “So becoming a political scientist was the next best thing.”
Brad Clark, a former city councillor and former provincial cabinet minister, says Jacek “seemed to have inside knowledge of what was going on.”
He said Jacek developed good relationships. “I hope he continues to comment, because his insight was really something.”