James J. Sheehan (born 1937) is an American historian of modern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the former president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

(2005).

Biography

Born in San Francisco in 1937, Sheehan earned a B.A. from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1958 and a Ph.D. in history from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1964. He taught at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

between 1964 and 1979, then moved back to Stanford to succeed

Gordon A. Craig Gordon Alexander Craig (November 13, 1913 – October 30, 2005) was a Scottish-American liberal historian of German history and of diplomatic history. Early life Craig was born in Glasgow. In 1925 he emigrated with his family to Toronto, Onta ...

as Stanford's historian of modern Germany. At Stanford, Sheehan is Dickason Professor in the Humanities, Professor of History, and FSI senior fellow (courtesy). Sheehan's research focuses on German and modern European history, especially the history of German

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, and war and the modern European state. He is the author of numerous articles and several important books, including ''The Career of Lujo Brentano: A Study of Liberalism and Social Reform in Imperial Germany'' (Chicago and London:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, 1966); ''German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1978); ''German History, 1770–1866'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989); and, most recently, '' Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of Modern Europe'' (Boston:

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, 2008). He also co-edited volumes on German émigrė historians. Sheehan is a recipient of the Humboldt Research Prize and the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as a member of the German Order

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

. He was a Guggenheim Fellow (2000–2001), a Berlin Prize Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin (2001), and has been a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

since 2001. Sheehan is married to

Margaret L. Anderson Margaret Lavinia Anderson is professor emerita at University of California Berkeley where she teaches about Europe since 1453; Central Europe from the late 18th century, especially modern Germany; World War I; Fascist Europe. She won a 2001 B ...

, a historian at the

References

External links

Faculty Page at the Stanford History DepartmentJames J. Sheehan, ''The Problems of Sovereignty in European History,'' AHA Presidential Address
Retrieved April 18, 2010
James J. Sheehan: An Oral History
" Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2012.
James J. Sheehan: An Oral History
" Faculty Senate Oral History Project, Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2017. Historians of Europe Historians of Germany Presidents of the American Historical Association Living people 1937 births 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) {{US-historian-stub Members of the American Philosophical Society American male non-fiction writers