Robert K. Brigham is the Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of History and International Relations at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

. He is a historian of

US foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

, particularly of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Education

Brigham earned his undergraduate degree from

The College at Brockport, State University of New York State University of New York at Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York, United States. It is part of the State University of New York (S ...

and an MA from

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

in 1982 prior to receiving his PhD from

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in 1994. At Kentucky, Brigham worked with Professor George C. Herring.

Career

Brigham joined Vassar in 1994. He has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Smith Richardson Foundation The Smith Richardson Foundation is a private foundation based in Westport, Connecticut that supports policy research in the realms of foreign and domestic public policy. According to the foundation's website, its mission is "to contribute to imp ...

, and the Social Sciences Committee in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. In addition, he has been Mellon Senior Visiting Scholar at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, and visiting professor of international relations at the

Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, soon to be renamed Watson School for International and Public Affairs, is an interdisciplinary research center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Its mission is to promote a ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. In 1998, he was an Albert Shaw Endowed Lecturer at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

alongside Charles E. Neu,

Brian Balogh Brian Balogh is an American historian, author and emeritus professor at the University of Virginia. Balogh was the director of the National Fellowship Program hosted by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. He also co-hosted the radio program, " Bac ...

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

, and George C. Herring. From 2007 to 2008, he held the Mary Ball Washington Professorship of American History (Fulbright) at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. In addition to his academic writing, Brigham has published hundreds of reviews and

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

pieces in newspapers, such as the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', and ''

the Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. He has also appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, the ''

News Hour with Jim Lehrer ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations since October 20, 1975. It airs seven nights a week, and i ...

'', the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, CBS Radio, and

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. In 2017, Brigham contributed op-ed pieces to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' series, ''Vietnam '67''.

Awards

* Outstanding Faculty Member, Southern Vermont College (1987) * Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Teaching, University of Kentucky (1993) * Outstanding Faculty Member, Semester at Sea, University of Virginia (2014) * Outstanding Faculty Award, Alumnae/I Association of Vassar College (2019) * Peter L. Hahn Distinguished Service Award, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (2023)

Books

* ''Reckless: Henry Kissinger and the Tragedy of Vietnam'' (

PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is a book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. The current Publisher is Clive Priddl ...

, 2018) . * ''American Foreign Relations: A History, Volumes I & II'', Eighth edition (

Cengage Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for higher education, K–12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.(June 27, 2014Global Publishing Leaders 2 ...

, 2015) . Co-authored with Thomas G. Paterson, J. Garry Clifford, Michael E. Donoghue, Kenneth J. Hagan, Deborah Kisatsky, Shane J. Maddock. * ''The United States and Iraq Since 1990: a Brief History with Documents'' (

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations *Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town *Wiley, Georgia, an U.S. unincorporated community * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People *Wiley (musician), ...

, 2013) . * ''Iraq, Vietnam, and the Limits of American Power'' (PublicAffairs, 2008) . * ''Is Iraq Another Vietnam?'' (PublicAffairs, 2006) ISBN 978-1-58648-413-2. * ''ARVN: life and death in the South Vietnamese Army'' (

University Press of Kansas The University Press of Kansas is a publisher located in Lawrence, Kansas. Operated by the University of Kansas, it represents the six state universities in the US state of Kansas: Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas ...

, 2006) . * ''Guerrilla Diplomacy: The NLF's Foreign Relations and the Viet Nam War'' (

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

, 1999) . * ''Argument without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy'' (PublicAffairs, 1999) . Co-authored with

, James Blight, Thomas J. Biersteker, and Colonel Herbert Schandler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigham, Robert K. American historians Johns Hopkins University people Living people 1960 births