Dale R. Herspring

Herspring was born in Alameda County, California,^[1] the son of Frank and Ruby Herspring. He attended Castro Valley High School, graduating in 1958. After graduating, he attended Stanford University, earning his BA degree in 1965.^[2][3] He also attended Georgetown University, earning his MA degree in government in 1967. After earning his degrees, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship at the Free University of Berlin, researching for a doctoral dissertation on the National People's Army and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany,^[4] which after researching at Berlin, he attended the University of Southern California, earning his PhD degree in political science in 1972.^[2][3]

Herspring served as a professor in the department of political science at Kansas State University from 1993 to 2015. During his years as a professor, in 2007, he was named a distinguished professor.^[3]

Herspring died in Wichita, Kansas, on July 15, 2025, at the age of 84.^[5]