Thomas James Mehen

Tom was a good colleague in my early years at USAID. Without either of us admitting it at the time he was an important mentor to me as I took on my first project management job at USAID. He taught me how to work with US university grantees, ensuring adherence to terms of our grant agreement but doing this with mutual respect and friendship. He also introduced me to the world of land tenure research and reform. I ran into Tom many years later, maybe 15 years ago in the Balkans, where — after USAID had decimated our program officer ranks and then rehired a new generation — he was brought on to mentor new program officers in one of our USAID country missions there. He had a big heart for poor people around the world, and it doesn’t surprise me at all to learn that late in life he joined Americorps and went to Guam. He was also just a lot of fun to be around. In this very sad time, I find comfort in the words of St. Paul — “…neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither angels nor demons, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God…”
David Atwood, USAID

Memories of Tom Mehen from some of his other friends and colleagues in the USAID and US University community who didn’t know about this condolences link are also included below:

John Bruce, former head of University of Wisconsin Land Tenure Center: “Tom was a joy to work with, skeptical but always willing to be persuaded if you had a good argument and he had an endearing sense of graveyard humor when things were going really wrong, as they did some days at LTC. I am very sorry to hear he has passed.”

Joan Atherton, one of USAID land tenure experts who worked with Tom on these issues: “I remember Tom with admiration for his professionalism and perseverance.”

Sharon Carney, who worked with Tom in USAID’s Rural Development Office: “What a loss, I am so sorry to hear of his passing. He was my first supervisor in USAID and I remember him fondly.”

David Stanfield, University of Wisconsin land tenure expert and leader: “A sad day, since he was a positive force in our often negative world. I have fond memories of our meetings and discussions about the Land Tenure Center. My appreciation for his work and his support for our work has grown over the years.”

Wayne Nilsestuen, former USAID Country Director and head of Agriculture for Latin America: “Thank you so much for letting me know of Tom’s death and memorial service. In the early 80’s I worked quite closely with Tom on the Cooperative Agreement with the Land Tenure Center after I came back from El Salvador and dealing with sweeping land reform.”

Mike Weber, Michigan State University and head of one of the programs Tom managed and provided leadership on: “Sad news about Tom. He was a real contributor for a long time, and really made a difference with our and UW’s programs.”