Vivien Hart, Professor of American Studies and an expert on "contemporary constitutionalism", died on 2 February aged 70.
Vivien was a late entrant to an academic career. The turning point was at Harvard, when Professor Samuel H. Beer, the leading American authority on British government, became her PhD supervisor. Over the next 35 years, there was a continuing flow across the Atlantic of information, analysis and discussion.
In 1974 Vivien joined Sussex, where she and Professor Marcus Cunliffe immediately formed an important collaboration. As an historian and a literary critic, Marcus teamed with Vivien, a social scientist, to forge ahead with American Studies.
When in 1991 the University established the Cunliffe Centre for the Study of Constitutionalism and National Identity, Vivien was the obvious choice for Director.
This proved the perfect vehicle for Vivien to further her own research interests as well as to facilitate the work of younger scholars. She fostered links between the Centre and George Washington University, Ohio State University and the University of Toronto. A series of international conferences followed, resulting in numerous publications.
Vivien's career expanded far beyond the University of Sussex. She was a Visiting Professor at Smith College and at Ohio State University, and held fellowships and scholarships from the American Council of Learned Societies, Massey College of Toronto University, the United States Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Brookings Institution.
Vivien's many pleasures and enthusiasms included the outdoors, music and food, the reading of detective novels and, most of all, her family and friends.
These pleasures allowed her to play the academic game of "never too busy to talk to you" and "let's have another cup of coffee" when, in reality, she was one of the most dedicated and conscientious of colleagues and teachers.