Bertil Lennart Hanson, who taught political science to generations of OSU students and shared his love of game theory, baseball, Scandinavia and dogs with family and friends, died Tuesday in Dallas. He was 91. A Celebration of Bert's life will be 2:00 p.m. Monday, May 13, 2023 at the Salem Lutheran Church, 101 S. Duck St., Stillwater, Oklahoma. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.


He was well known in Stillwater for starting a novel football pool, which he ran until his retirement, and participated in for more than 45 years. As a professor, he demonstrated game theory in action through an in-class game of "coup d'état" among students and by allowing students to vote on and debate the answers to exam questions.


During more than 52 years of marriage to his late wife Adelia, the couple was famed for their hospitality, frequently inviting friends, colleagues and visiting Scandinavians for home-cooked dinners and parties. It was common to see Bert bicycling around town and swimming laps at the Colvin Center pool.


Born on Sept. 8, 1932, in Chicago, he was the only child of Swedish immigrants Birger and Cecilia (Eriksson) Hansson and grew up fluent in Swedish. Reared in the Rogers Park area of the city -- where his friends called him "Len" -- he developed a love of the Chicago Cubs and cold water swims after numerous dips in Lake Michigan.


He earned his bachelor's degree at Northwestern University and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1953, serving in Heidelberg, West Germany, at the tail end of the Korean War. He remained on active duty until 1955 and was honorably discharged as a corporal in 1961. Upon his return home, he earned his master's and doctorate at the University of Chicago.


After moving to Stillwater in 1957, he became one of a handful of professors in OSU's nascent political science department, where he worked for more than 35 years. When the department was between permanent heads in the 1980s, he filled in as interim head of Political Science.


Bert and Adelia Castor met in Stillwater and were married in 1964 at First Methodist church in Ponca City. Together, they spent the 1966-67 academic year in Norway, where he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Oslo. Upon their return to Stillwater, they welcomed sons Jon Steffan in 1969 and Peter Erland in 1973.


As a family, they returned to Scandinavia for sabbatical years in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1973-74 and Umeå, Sweden, in 1984-85. Bert and Adelia also spent another year in Umeå in 1993-94 and then Dublin, Ireland, in 1996-97.


In Stillwater, the Hansons were active members of Salem Lutheran Church and frequently assisted international students, particularly those from Scandinavia and Europe. They enjoyed welcoming diverse guests to their home, including those whom they had met on their travels.


Bert was known for drawing quirky illustrations on birthday cards, party invitations and fliers. These included a mascot he created for the OSU political science department, a parrot he nicknamed "Polly Sci."


After Adelia's death in 2016, he moved to Dallas to be closer to his son Peter and his family.


He is survived by his son Jon, his wife Emily and their son Reed, as well as Peter, his wife Catalina, and their sons Matias, Nicolas and Benjamin.


In honor of his interests, the family suggests memorial gifts can be donated to Salem Lutheran Church, 101 S. Duck St. Stillwater, OK. 74074, the Humane Society of Stillwater, 1710 S. Main St. Stillwater, OK. 74074, or to the Stillwater Public Library, 1107 S. Duck St. Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074.