Melvyn P. Leffler

Melvyn P. Leffler
Melvyn P. Leffler
	Leffler in 2011
Born	May 31, 1945(age 79); New York City,New York, United States
Occupation	Historian; educator;
Nationality	American
Education	Cornell University(BS); Ohio State University(PhD)
Notable awards	Bancroft Prize(1993); George Louis Beer Prize(2008)
Spouse	Phyllis Koran (m.1968)
Children	1 daughter and son
Parents	Louis Leffler; Mollie Leffler

Melvyn Paul Leffler(born May 31, 1945)^[1]is an Americanhistorianand educator, currently Edward Stettinius Professor of History at theUniversity of Virginia.^[2]He is the winner of numerous awards, including theBancroft Prizefor his bookA Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration and the Cold War,and theAmerican Historical Association’sGeorge Louis Beer Prizefor his bookFor the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War.

Life

The son of businessman Louis and Mollie Leffler, he married historian Phyllis Koran on September 1, 1968; they have one daughter, Sarah Ann and one son, Elliot.

Education

Leffler received a BS fromCornell Universityin 1966, and a PhD fromOhio State Universityin 1972.

Career

Leffler taught atVanderbilt Universityas assistant professor in 1972 to 1977, and associate professor of history in 1977 to 2002. He was chairman of the department of history and dean of the college and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at theUniversity of Virginiafrom 1997 to 2001. In 1994, he was president of theSociety for Historians of American Foreign Relations.He wasHarold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American Historyat theUniversity of Oxfordfrom 2002 to 2003. He currently teaches at the University of Virginia as a professor of history and is a scholar of the Miller Center.

Books he has authored or edited include the following:Safeguarding Democratic Capitalism: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, 1920-2015(Princeton University Press, 2017);The Cambridge History of the Cold War(3 vols.; Cambridge University Press, 2010); andThe Cold War: An International History(2nd ed.; Routledge, 2005).

In 2014, the University of Virginia gave him its Thomas Jefferson Award for excellence in scholarship. The Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations honored him in 2012 with its Laura and Norman Graebner Award for lifetime achievement and service.

Leffler has served on advisory committees to the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, particularly concerning the declassification of documents.^[3]

Awards

2008George Louis Beer PrizeforFor the Soul of Mankind: the United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War
2004-2005 Randolph Jennings Fellow,United States Institute of Peace
2004-2005 Henry Kissinger Fellow,Library of Congress^[4]
2001-2002Woodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsFellow
1993Bancroft PrizeforA Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration and the Cold War
1993 Ferrell Prize
1993 Hoover Prizes
1993, 1997 Norwegian Nobel Peace Institute Fellowship
1973, 1984-85 American Council of Learned Societies, Fellowships, Grants-in-Aid
1984-85 Lehrman Institute Fellowship

Selected publications

Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq,Oxford University Press,2023.
For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War.New York, NY:Hill & Wang.2007.ISBN 978-0-809-09717-3.
"The Beginning and the End: Time, Context, and the Cold War".InOlav Njølstad,ed.,The Last Decade of the Cold War: From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation.London & New York, NY:Frank Cass.2004. pp. 23–49.ISBN 978-0-7146-8539-7.
"Bringing It Together: Parts and the Whole".InOdd Arne Westad,ed.,Reviewing the Cold War: Approaches, Interpretations, Theory.London & Portland, OR:Frank Cass.2000. pp. 43–63.ISBN 978-0-714-65072-2.
Paul Kennedy; William I. Hitchcock, eds. (2000). "American Grand Strategy from World War to Cold War 1940-1950".From war to peace: altered strategic landscapes in the twentieth century.Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0-300-08010-0.
"Inside Enemy Archives: The Cold War Reopened",Foreign Affairs,July/August 1996
Eric Foner, ed. (1994).The Specter of Communism: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1917-1953.Hill and Wang.ISBN 978-0-8090-1574-0.
Gordon Martel, ed. (1994). "The interpretative wars over the Cold War 1945-1960".American foreign relations reconsidered, 1890-1993.Routledge.ISBN 978-0-415-10476-0.
Michael J. Hogan; Thomas G. Paterson, eds. (2004). "National Security".Explaining the history of American foreign relations.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-54035-3.(2nd edition)
A Preponderance of Power: National Security, The Truman Administration, and the Cold War.Stanford University Press. 1992.ISBN 978-0-8047-2218-6.
Loyd E. Lee, ed. (1991). "Adherence to Agreements: Yalta and the Experiences of the Early Cold War".World War II: crucible of the contemporary world: commentary and readings.M.E. Sharpe.ISBN 978-0-87332-732-9.
Ellis Wayne Hawley, ed. (1981). "Herbert Hoover, the" New Era, "and American Foreign Policy 1921-1929".Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: studies in New Era thought and practice.University of Iowa Press.ISBN 978-0-87745-109-9.
The Elusive Quest: America's Pursuit of European Stability and French Security, 1919-1933.University of North Carolina Press. 1979.ISBN 978-0-8078-1333-1.

Editor

(Co-editor withOdd Arne Westad).The Cambridge History of the Cold War 3 Volume Set.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.2010.ISBN 978-0-521-83938-9.
(Co-editor withJeffrey W. Legro).To Lead the World: After the Bush Doctrine.Oxford University Press. 2008.ISBN 978-0-19-536941-0.
(Co-editor withDavid S. Painter).Origins of the Cold War: An International History(2nd ed.). New York & London: Routledge. 2005 [1994].ISBN 978-0-415-34109-7.

References

^"Leffler, Melvyn Paul 1945- (Melvyn Leffler, Melvyn P. Leffler) | Encyclopedia.com".
^"Melvyn P. Leffler | Corcoran Department of History".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-02.Retrieved2009-12-28.
^"Prize-winning Historian to Speak on the Cold War at Carls-Schwerdfeger Lectureship | News | Department of History | Union University, a Christian College in Tennessee".www.uu.edu.Retrieved2019-02-09.
^"Melvyn P. Leffler Named Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar in Foreign Policy and International Relations at Library of Congress".Library of Congress.

External links

[1] "Leffler, Melvyn Paul 1945- (Melvyn Leffler, Melvyn P. Leffler) | Encyclopedia.com".

[2] "Melvyn P. Leffler | Corcoran Department of History".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-02.Retrieved2009-12-28.

[3] "Prize-winning Historian to Speak on the Cold War at Carls-Schwerdfeger Lectureship | News | Department of History | Union University, a Christian College in Tennessee".www.uu.edu.Retrieved2019-02-09.

[4] "Melvyn P. Leffler Named Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar in Foreign Policy and International Relations at Library of Congress".Library of Congress.

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