Famed Historian to speak at annual Driggs Lecture

Published: March 14, 2013 | Read Time: 2 minutes

Award-winning author and acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley will deliver the fifth annual Howard R. Driggs Memorial Lecture at Southern Utah University on March 19. His presentation, “Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America,” will be the latest in a string of discussions surrounding his recent work, which includes publications about Roosevelt, Ronald Regan and Bob Dylan.

Most notably, Brinkley is a history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazines Vanity Fair and American Heritage. He is also a highly successful author; six of Brinkley’s publications have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He is a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy prize and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for his book, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In reference to Brinkley’s forthcoming visit, Raymond Grant, academic information and program officer said, “Douglas Brinkley is a prolific and influential writer and with his concentration on U.S. history, he is tailor made for this lecture.”

The Howard W. Driggs Memorial Lecture focuses on the American West in homage to Dr. Howard W. Driggs, one of the SUU’s first professors who endeavored to preserve the trails and memories of America’s pioneers and Pony Express messengers in the West.

Keeping with tradition, this year’s Driggs lecture is one of many events surrounding the University’s Founders’ Celebration, which will run from March 18 – 22.

Beginning this year, the Driggs Lecture will become part of SUU’s convocation series.

Brinkley currently serves as history fellow at the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy and a professor of history, both at Rice University. Before launching his career, Brinkley received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University, then a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Georgetown University in U.S. diplomatic history. He has served as a faculty member at Hofstra University, University of New Orleans, Tulane University and Rice University.

The Howard R. Driggs Memorial Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Eccles Visiting Scholar Program, the Friends of the Sherratt Library and SUU’s Honors Program and University College sponsors the lecture.

The lecture, which will be held in the Great Hall at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, is free and open to the SUU community and the general public.

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