Robin W. Winks (December 5, 1930 in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

– April 7, 2003 in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

) was an American academic,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, diplomat, writer on the subject of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

, especially

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

s, and advocate for the National Parks. After joining the faculty of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1957, he rose in 1996-1999 to become the Randolph Townsend Professor of History and Master of

Berkeley College Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York City, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Mi ...

. At

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

he served as George Eastman Professor in 1992-3, and as Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History in 1999-2000.

Background

Born in Indiana in 1930, Winks graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in 1952. As a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

in New Zealand he earned a master's degree in Maori studies from Victoria University before returning to the University of Colorado to earn a second master's degree in ethnography. He then earned a Ph.D. from

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 ...

in 1957 with a dissertation on Canadian and American relations. After a year of teaching at Connecticut College, he joined the faculty at Yale in 1957, where he remained for the rest of his career. He held visiting lectureships and conducted research at universities around the nation and the world, including at Sydney University in 1963 where he lectured memorably on American History, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Middle East. He was on leave 1969-71 to serve as U.S. Cultural Attache to the American Embassy in London, and was a regular adviser to various governmental agencies. Winks was a Fellow of the Explorers Club, the Society of American Historians, the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

, the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a member of both the Athenaeum Club and Special Forces Club. He was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, a Smith-Mundt Fellow, a Stimson Grant winner. In 1989 he won the Donner Medal from the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States. Winks held offices and committee chairmanships in 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 ...

, the Canadian Historical Association, the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad incl ...

et al. He was honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters from the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and from the

. Winks died in 2003 in

National Parks

Winks was a lover of the outdoors and spent much of his career advocating for the protection of open spaces. He served as chair of the National Parks System Advisory Board, and in 1988, was awarded the Department of the Interior’s Conservationist of the Year Award. In 1998, he became the first person to have visited all of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

units (there were 376 at that time). In 1999, the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...

honored him with its first award for contributions to public education on behalf of the national parks. They subsequently established the honor as an annual award named the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Robin Winks,

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

encompasses roughly 180 works in 460 publications in six languages and 24,000+ library holdings.WorldCat IdentitiesWinks, Robin W.
/ref> * ''Recent Trends and New Literature in Canadian History''; five editions published between 1959 and 1967 in English * ''Canada and the United States: The Civil War Years'' (McGill-Queen's Press, 1960); six editions published between 1960 and 1998 in Englis

* ''British Imperialism: Gold, God, Glory''; five editions published between 1963 and 1973 in Englis
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* ''The Historiography of the British Empire–Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations and Resources;'' two editions published in 1966 in English * ''Malaysia: Selected Historical Readings'' (with John Bastin) (Oxford University Press, 1966
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* ''The Age of Imperialism'' (Prentice-Hall, 1969); two editions published in 1969 in Englis

* ''The Historian as Detective: Essays on Evidence'' (New York: Harper & Row, 1969); published in 1969 in Englis
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* ''Pastmasters: Some Essays on American Historians'' (with Marcus Cunliffe) (New York: Harper & Row, 1969
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* ''The Myth of the American Frontier: Its Relevance to America, Canada and Australia'' (Leicester University Press, 1971
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* '' The Blacks in Canada: A History'' (McGill-Queen's Press, 1971); 12 editions published between 1971 and 2004 in Englis
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* ''Slavery: a Comparative Perspective; Readings on Slavery from Ancient Times to the Present''; published in 1972 in English * ''An American's Guide to Britain''; five editions published between 1977 and 1987 in English * ''Other Voices, Other Views: An International Collection of Essays from the Bicentennial'' (Greenwood Press, 1978
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* ''The Relevance of Canadian History: U.S. and Imperial perspectives ' (Macmillan of Canada: 1979
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* ''The American Identity: Fusion and Fragmentation'' (ed. Robin W. Winks, Sacvan Bercovitch, and Rob Kroes) (University of Amsterdam, 1980
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* ''Detective Fiction: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (Prentice-Hall, 1980); four editions published between 1980 and 1988 in Englis
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* ''Modus Operandi: An Excursion into Detective Fiction (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1981); three editions published between 1981 and 1990 in Englis
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* ''Colloquium on Crime: Eleven Renowned Mystery Writers Discuss their Work''; published in 1986 in Englis
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* ''The Lily and the Lion: Royal France, Great Britain'' (with Philip Mansel) (Boston Publishing Company, 1987
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* ''Cloak & Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

: 1987); eight editions published between 1987 and 1996 in Englis
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* ''A History of Civilization'' (Prentice-Hall, 1988
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* ''Asia in Western Fiction'' (with James R. Rush) (University of Hawaii Press, 1990
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* ''Frederick Billings: A Life'' (Oxford University Press, 1991); three editions published between 1991 and 1998 in English and Undetermine

* ''Asia in Western Fiction'' (with James R. Rush); six editions published between 1989 and 1990 in English * ''The Historiography of the British Empire-Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations, and Resources'' (Aldershot: Gregg Revivals, 1995
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* ''Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation;'' four editions published in 1997 in English * ''Mystery and Suspense Writers: the Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage'' (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1998); two editions published in 1998 in English and held by 1,175 libraries worldwid
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* ''Europe, Crisis and Conflict: 1890–1945'' (with R.J.Q. Adams) (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2003) * ''The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600'' (with Susan P. Mattern) (Oxford University Press, 2004

* ''Europe, 1648-1815: From the Old Regime to the Age of Revolution'' (with Thomas E. Kaiser) (Oxford University Press, 2004

* ''Medieval Europe and the World: From Late Antiquity to Modernity, 400-1500'' (with Teofilo F. Ruiz) (Oxford University Press, 2005

* ''Europe and the Making of Modernity: 1815-1914'' (with Joan Neuberger) (Oxford University Press, 2005

Notes

References

* Adrian, Jack
"Professor Robin Winks; Historian of unusually varied interests,"
''The Independent'' (London). April 12, 2003. * Edmonds, Douglas
"Robin Winks: An Appreciation,"
''American Review of Canadian Studies,'' Vol. 34, 2004. * Lewis, Paul

''New York Times.'' April 10, 2003. * Reinstein, Gila
"In Memoriam: Robin Winks,"
''Yale Bulletin & Calendar'' (University Office of Public Affairs). April 8, 2003. * Winks, Robin W. (1996). ''Cloak & Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961.'' New Haven:

. ;

Archival records

* C. Vann Woodward papers, 1804–2000. Yale University * Robin William Winks papers, 1950–2001. Yale University * Records of the Bicentennial Committee for International Conferences of Americanists, 1973–1977 by Bicentennial Committee for International Conferences of Americanists. * Records of the United States Bicentennial Committee, Yale University, 1970–1977. Yale University

External links

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
* Fulbright New Zealand
Robin W. and Avril Flockton Winks Award
''2009 Grantees Booklet,'' p. 10. *Robin Winks papers (MS 336). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Librar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winks, Robin W. 1930 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of Canada Historians of Australia Johns Hopkins University alumni Yale University faculty Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History Historians from Indiana 20th-century American male writers