Walter A. McDougall
Encyclopedia
Walter A. McDougall is an American historian and a Pulitzer Prize
winner. He is Professor of History and the Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania
.
McDougall graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Amherst College
, before completing his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago
in 1974. He was a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution
, and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
and the National Air and Space Museum
of the Smithsonian Institution
. He also received an Earhart Foundation
Fellowship. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
for 13 years, before moving to Pennsylvania. He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute
and also an editor of Orbis, quarterly journal of world affairs published by the institute.
McDougall is the author of many books on history. In 1986 he received the Pulitzer Prize for History
for his book The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age. In the book, he examined the American, European, and Soviet space programs and their politics. He argued that the Soviet Union
made its way into space first because it was the world's first "technocracy". He defined technocracy as "the institutionalization of technological change for state purpose." He also examined the growth of a political economy
of technology in the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
He also wrote Let the Sea Make a Noise: A History of the North Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur in 1993 and Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter With the World Since 1776 in 1997. In 2004 he wrote Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585–1828, in which he described the United States as "the central event of the past four hundred years." He showed that with their historically unequaled freedom American's found various ways to satisfy both their good and bad desires. In 2008 he published Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829–1877, in which he covered all the major events and social forces of the Civil War
era.
Walter A. McDougall was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Sigma chapter) and a Vietnam
veteran.
McDougall and his wife, the former Jonna Van Zanten, have two children and reside in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His interests include books, music from Bach to Bob Dylan, chess, baseball, bridge, golf and C.S. Lewis.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner. He is Professor of History and the Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
.
McDougall graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, before completing his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1974. He was a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
, and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
and the National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. He also received an Earhart Foundation
Earhart Foundation
The Earhart Foundation is a private charitable foundation that funds research and scholarship. It was founded in 1929 by oil executive Harry Boyd Earhart.- History :...
Fellowship. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
for 13 years, before moving to Pennsylvania. He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute
Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Foreign Policy Research Institute is an American neoconservative think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is "devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S...
and also an editor of Orbis, quarterly journal of world affairs published by the institute.
McDougall is the author of many books on history. In 1986 he received the Pulitzer Prize for History
Pulitzer Prize for History
The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
for his book The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age. In the book, he examined the American, European, and Soviet space programs and their politics. He argued that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
made its way into space first because it was the world's first "technocracy". He defined technocracy as "the institutionalization of technological change for state purpose." He also examined the growth of a political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
of technology in the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
He also wrote Let the Sea Make a Noise: A History of the North Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur in 1993 and Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter With the World Since 1776 in 1997. In 2004 he wrote Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585–1828, in which he described the United States as "the central event of the past four hundred years." He showed that with their historically unequaled freedom American's found various ways to satisfy both their good and bad desires. In 2008 he published Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829–1877, in which he covered all the major events and social forces of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era.
Walter A. McDougall was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Sigma chapter) and a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
veteran.
McDougall and his wife, the former Jonna Van Zanten, have two children and reside in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His interests include books, music from Bach to Bob Dylan, chess, baseball, bridge, golf and C.S. Lewis.