Dr. Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and prolific biographer, will be the featured speaker at the 21st R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 in the Looney Complex on campus. The Convocation is free and open to the public.
Brinkley’s most recent book is “Cronkite,” a New York Times bestselling biography of Walter Cronkite, who was born in St. Joseph. He will speak on what would have been Cronkite’s 98th birthday.
In addition to the Convocation, Dr. Brinkley will be the guest of honor at a Convocation luncheon following his presentation. He will also speak the preceding day at the inaugural Walter Cronkite Conference on Media Ethics and Integrity, co-sponsored by Missouri Western and the Media Ethics Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Dr. Brinkley has written books on former presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, as well as presidential candidate John Kerry.
Six of Dr. Brinkley’s books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. “The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast” was the recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. “The Great Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America” was the recipient of the National Outdoor Book Award.
Dr. Brinkley completed his bachelor’s degree at The Ohio State University and received his doctorate in U.S. Diplomatic History from Georgetown University in 1989.
The Convocation is sponsored by the Missouri Western State University Foundation.