Dexter Perkins

Dexter Perkins (1889–1984) was one of the most prominent authorities on United States History and served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of American History at the University of Rochester.

Biography

He received his PhD. from Harvard University in 1914. He taught at the University of Rochester until 1953, as Professor since 1915, and as chair of the department from 1925. In 1945 he was the first to hold Cambridge University’s Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions. Dr. Perkins was also the John L. Senior Professor of American Civilization at Cornell University from 1954 to 1959. He was a former visiting professor at the University of London and Cambridge University. Perkins was the official U.S. historian at the 1945 San Francisco Security Conference that preceded the organization of the United Nations. From 1950-1951, he served as the first president of the Salzburg Global Seminar, a non-profit organization based in Salzburg, Austria whose mission is to challenge current and future leaders to develop creative ideas for solving global problems. As president of the American Historical Association in 1956, he delivered an address that emphasized the importance of teaching alongside scholarly research at universities. His son Bradford is a notable historian in his own right.

Scholarly Works and Impact

He is the author of The Monroe Doctrine; American and the Two Wars; and The Evolution of American Foreign Policy. Perkins co-authored with Glyndon G. Van Deusen (also of the University of Rochester,) "The United States of America: A History." The two-volume work was published in 1962.

• The New Age of Franklin Roosevelt, 1932-1945 (Chicago History of American Civilization) (1957)

External links

• Salzburg Global Seminar