Paul Quigley named first James I. Robertson Jr. Professor in Civil War Studies
New Virginia Tech faculty member Paul Quigley, who will join the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in the Department of History this fall, was recently named the first James I. Robertson, Jr. Professor in Civil War Studies upon his arrival by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The James I. Robertson Jr. Professorship was created in 2005. It was funded through the estate of Vicki Heilig, a resident of Salisbury, N.C., who was committed to Civil War education and preservation.
A lecturer in American history at the University of Edinburgh since 2007, Quigley has distinguished himself among a younger generation of American Civil War historians who are bringing new perspectives to this significant historic event. His particular contribution is to highlight the international dimensions of the war.
His first book, published in 2011, won three major awards, including the British Association for American Studies Book Prize, the Jefferson Davis Award from the Museum of the Confederacy, and an Honorable Mention from the Deep South Book Prize Committee.
He is currently pursuing two new projects, one exploring changing notions of citizenship during wartime, and a second on Preston Brooks, whose infamous beating of Charles Sumner on the floor of the U.S. Senate exacerbated the sectional tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
In addition to his award-winning scholarship, Quigley is a talented teacher and mentor who has successfully directed numerous undergraduate and graduate research projects and who has created a classroom document reader that is currently under review by the University of Virginia Press.
Quigley also possesses an exemplary track record in service and outreach, including serving five years as associate editor for Southern Cultures, a popular magazine with a circulation of thousands that makes the work of scholars broadly accessible, and he is now serving as the book review editor and list editor for H-National, an H-Net listserv.
Since 2007, he has served in a variety of administrative capacities for the master’s degree program in history at Edinburgh. He was recently appointed director of a new online master of science degree in history at that institution.
Quigley received his bachelor’s degree from Lancaster University (Great Britain) and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
