ASU historian recognized by Columbia University society

Arizona State University professor Matt Garcia was elected as a new member of the Society of American Historians at Columbia University.

The Society of American Historians is an honorary society whose main goal is to recognize and encourage literary merit in the writing of history. Membership is by election only; Garcia is one of eight new fellows voted in by existing members this year. The society was founded in 1939 to promote “literary distinction in the writing of history and biography” by Allan Nevins, a historian and journalist who wrote extensively about the Civil War and won two Pulitzer Prizes.

"It is a privilege to work with Matt Garcia,” says George Justice, dean of humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “The Society of American Historians is a small group of some of the nation's most distinguished historians, and it invites scholars who not only amass information about people and events of the past, but craft historical writing that speaks directly and eloquently to the concerns of the nation. Matt's invitation into the society signals his excellence and his leadership. He brings honor to Arizona State University, its faculty and students."

Garcia is the director of the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and director of the Comparative Border Studies Program at Arizona State University. He received the Philip Taft Labor History Book Award for his more recent book, “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement.”

In 2010, he won the Best Public History Award by the National Council for Public History, and in 2003, he was co-winner for the best book in oral history by the Oral History Association. Prior to his service with ASU, Garcia taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the University of Oregon and Brown University.

The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies is an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

Written by Beatriz Kravetz, beatriz.kravetz@asu.edu