He taught at Harvard and then for 20 years at Princeton, after which he moved to the University of California, Irvine in 1980, where he held the title of Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at his death.
[1] He taught at UC Irvine's School of Social Sciences and was the university's first faculty member with the title of Distinguished Professor.
[3] According to Gabriel A. Almond, "Few political scientists can claim to have made significant substantive as well as methodological contributions as has Harry Eckstein.
"[4] Eckstein's 1975 essay on "crucial case studies" is considered influential in social science research design.
[1] His only child Jonathan Eckstein is a professor of Management Science and Information Systems at Rutgers University.