GLC Director, David W. Blight appointed Sterling Professor

July 11, 2019

David William Blight, newly named as the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies, is a renowned historian who is considered one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the Civil War and its legacy.

The Sterling Professorship is the highest honor bestowed on Yale faculty.

Blight is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including “American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era” and “Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory,” and annotated editions of Frederick Douglass’ first two autobiographies. He has conducted research on the life and work of Douglass for much of his professional career. His most recent book, “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” has garnered eight awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize.

A graduate of Michigan State University, Blight earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught at Harvard University and North Central College (Naperville, Illinois), and for seven years was a public high school teacher in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Prior to joining the Yale faculty in 2003, Blight taught at Amherst College for 13 years. At Yale, he serves as director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. In this role he organizes conferences, working groups, lectures, the administration of the annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize, and many public outreach programs regarding the history of slavery and its abolition.

Full article on Yale News here: https://news.yale.edu/2019/07/10/david-blight-appointed-sterling-professor