Edward L. Ayers

For the antiquarian and 19th century collector of Americanist historical literature, seeEdward E. Ayer.

Edward Lynn "Ed" Ayers(born January 22, 1953;Asheville, North Carolina) is an American historian, professor, administrator, and university president. In July 2013, he was awarded theNational Humanities Medalby PresidentBarack Obamaat aWhite Houseceremony for Ayers's commitment "to making our history as widely available and accessible as possible."He served as the president of theOrganization of American Historiansin 2017–18.

Edward Lynn Ayers
President of the University of Richmond
In office July 1, 2007 – July 1, 2015
Preceded by	William E. Cooper
Succeeded by	Ronald Crutcher
Personal details
Born	(1953-01-22)January 22, 1953 Asheville, North Carolina
Alma mater	University of Tennessee(BA) Yale University(MA,PhD)
Profession	Educator and historian
Website	www.edwardayers

Career

Ayers received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies from theUniversity of Tennesseein 1974,summa cum laude,and a doctorate in American studies fromYale Universityin 1980.He taught at theUniversity of Virginiafrom 1980 to 2007, where he became the Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History and the Buckner W. Clay Dean of theCollege and Graduate School of Arts and Sciencesfrom 2001 through 2007.He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

At Virginia, Ayers won several teaching prizes, including U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education in 2003,and the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award in 1991.The university awarded Ayers its highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award, in 2006.

Ayers directed the dissertations of more than forty doctoral students at Virginia, most of them in the history of the American South.

Elected president of the University of Richmond in 2007, Ayers developedThe Richmond Promise,a five-year strategic plan to guide University priorities. During his term, the university increased students of color from 11 percent to 28 percent, doubled the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, covered the full cost of attendance for all Virginia students with family income below $60,000, and created theRichmond Guarantee,a paid summer fellowship for all undergraduate students. Ayers completed his term as president in 2015, when he was named the Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities.

Ayers is the author of six and editor of seven books on the history of nineteenth-century America.The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstructionwas a finalist for both theNational Book Awardand thePulitzer Prize.His book,In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Civil War in the Heart of America,won theBancroft Prizefor distinguished writing in American historyand theBeveridge Awardfor the best book in English on the history of the Americas since 1492.The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America,was awarded theLincoln Prizefrom theGilder Lehrman Instituteand the Avery O. Craven Award from the Organization of American Historians.Southern Journey: The Migrations of the American South, 1790-2020,narrates the evolution of southern history through the migration of indigenous, white, Black, and immigrant people, with maps created byJustin Madronand Nathaniel Ayers.What Caused the Civil Waris a collection of original essays. Edward Ayers co-editedThe Oxford Book of the American Southand editedAmerica's Warfor theAmerican Library Associationand theNational Endowment for the Humanities.

New American History

In 2015, Ayers foundedNew American History,an initiative to enable engaged and innovative learning in history at all grade levels. It is based at the University of Richmond and funded through philanthropic support.

The project integratesBunk,a daily curation of representations of the American past in multiple media;American Panorama,a digital atlas of United States history produced at the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond;BackStory,a radio show and podcast; andThe Future of America's Past,a video series created byField Studio.New American HistoryprovidesLearning Resourcestailored to different grade levels, and partners with organizations devoted to supporting teachers and students of United States history.

Digital history

Ayers pioneered in digital history, overseeing theValley of the Shadowproject at the University of Virginia from 1991 through 2007. The project presented an interactive archive dedicated to two communities in the American Civil War, produced in collaboration with William G. Thomas III and Anne Sarah Rubin. The project won the Lincoln Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Institute in 2001 and the James Harvey Robinson Prize for Outstanding Aid to Teaching History, American Historical Association (AHA) in 2002. The project was named one of the fifty most important efforts sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities in its first fifty years.In 2022, on the 30th anniversary of the project,New American Historyreleased an updated version of theValley of the Shadowwith enhanced images and search features.

In 2007, Ayers founded theDigital Scholarship Labat the University of Richmond, where he now serves as a senior research fellow. The Lab received the 2019Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital Historyfor a freely available new media project,American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History.In 2021, Edward Ayers,Justin Madron,andNathaniel Ayersreceived accolades for the Digital Scholarship Lab projectSouthern Journey: The Migrations of the American South, 1790–2020,at the prestigiousESRI User Conference.Southern Journeyearned third place in the "Spatial Analysis ArcGIS StoryMaps" category and received the top prize overall in both "Best Cartography" and "ICA and IMIA Recognition of Excellence in Cartography."

Public history

Ayers has been active in public history. From 2008 through 2020 he served as one of the founding co-hosts ofBackStory,based at Virginia Humanities, alongsidePeter Onuf,Brian Balogh,Joanne B. Freeman,andN. D. B. Connollyfrom 2008 to 2020.BackStorywas broadcast on more than 200 stations around the country and was downloaded millions of times as a podcast.The program selected topics from current headlines and examined each in a historical context. Archived episodes continue to be made available by the Virginia Humanitiesand theAmerican Archive of Public Broadcasting(AAPB).

Ayers is the host ofThe Future of America's Past,a program produced for Virginia Public Media by Field Studio Films and distributed nationally. The show received multiple awards for its first two seasons. The pilot episode, "Freedom's Fortress",received a 2019 Capital Region Emmy Award for its directors and producers,Hannah Ayers and Lance Warren.Two additional episodes received recognition at the 2020 Capital Region Emmy Awards. "A Public Calamity"received a Capital Region Emmy Award for Historical/Cultural Short Form Content, and"School Interrupted"received an Emmy for Magazine Program (Single Program).

Ayers has served on the boards of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council for Education, the Organization of American Historians, the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia Humanities, and the Valentine Museum. Ayers was founding chair of the board of the American Civil War Museum from 2013 through 2019. He has also served Richmond and the state of Virginia on the Monument Avenue Commission, the Fort Monroe Authority, the African American History Education Commission, and the Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol.

Personal life

Ayers is married to Abby Ayers. They have two grown children,Nathaniel AyersandHannah Ayers.

Academic service

• Organization of American Historians,president (2017–2018); executive board officer (2017–2020)
• American Council for Education, executive committee and co-chair of accreditation committee, 2008–2012
• National Humanities Center, board member, 2007–2011
• National Council for the Humanities, 2000–2004, appointed by the president of the United States to advise the National Endowment for the Humanities

Books

• American Visions: The United States, 1800–1860,(W. W. Norton & Company, 2023.ISBN9780393881264.)
• Southern Journey: The Migrations of the American South, 1790–2020,(Louisiana State University Press, 2020.ISBN9780807173015.)
• The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America,(W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.ISBN0393292630,978-0393292633.)
• America's War: Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries,(co-published by theAmerican Library Associationand theNational Endowment for the Humanities,2011.ISBN978-0-8389-9308-8.)
• America on the Eve of the Civil War,edited with Carolyn R. Martin, (University of Virginia Press, 2010.ISBN978-0-8139-3063-3.)
• The Crucible of the Civil War: Virginia from Secession to Commemoration,edited with Gary Gallagher and Andrew Torget, (University of Virginia Press, 2006.ISBN978-0-8139-2552-3.)
• What Caused the Civil War? Reflections on the South and Southern History,(W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.ISBN978-0-393-05947-2.)
• In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859–1863,(W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.ISBN978-0-393-32601-7.)
• The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War – The Eve of War,CD-ROM and book co-authored with Anne S. Rubin, (W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.ISBN978-0-393-04604-5.)
• The Oxford Book of the American South: Testimony, Memory, and Fiction,edited with Bradley Mittendorf, (Oxford University Press, 1997.ISBN978-0-19-512493-4.)
• All Over the Map: Rethinking American Regions,co-editor and co-author, (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.ISBN978-0-8018-5392-0.)
• The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction,(Oxford University Press, 1992; paperback edition, 1993; abridged edition, 1995; 15th Anniversary Edition, 2007.ISBN978-0-19-532688-8.)
• The Edge of the South: Life in Nineteenth-Century Virginia,co-edited with John C. Willis, [University Press of Virginia, 1991.ISBN978-0-8139-1298-1.)
• Vengeance and Justice: Crime and Punishment in the Nineteenth-Century American South,(Oxford University Press, 1984; paperback edition, 1986.ISBN978-0-19-503988-7.)

Honors

• Lincoln Prize(2018), forThe Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America
• National Humanities Medal(2012), "for his commitment to making our history as widely available and accessible as possible." (2012)
• Bancroft Prize,In The Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863(2004)
• National Council on the Humanities,Presidential Appointee (2000–2004)
• U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities,Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of TeachingandCouncil for Advancement and Support of Education(2003)
• Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences(elected 2001)
• Lincoln Prize(2001), with Anne S. Rubin, and William G. Thomas, forValley of the Shadow: The Eve of War(CD-ROM)
• James A. Rawley Prizefrom theOrganization of American Historians(1993), forThe Promise of the New South
• Pulitzer PrizeFinalist – History (1993), forThe Promise of the New South
• National Book AwardFinalist – Nonfiction (1992), forThe Promise of the New South
• Distinguished Fellow of the Georgia Historical Society

External links

• Edward Ayers | Official Website
• AppearancesonC-SPAN