James J. Sheehan (born 1937) is an American historian. His scholarship has focused on the history of modern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and he is a 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, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

(2005).

Biography

Born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1937, Sheehan earned a BA from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1958 and a PhD in history from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1964. He taught at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

between 1964 and 1979, then moved back to Stanford to succeed Gordon A. Craig 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 philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, 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 university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

, 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 , , "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 vocalize it as ...

, 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 (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

. 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) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

since 2001. Sheehan is married to Margaret Anderson, a historian at the

References

External links

Faculty Page at the Stanford History Department

James 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