Celebrated Second World War Historian John C. McManus to Speak at 2024 UE Fiddick Lecture Series
SEPTEMBER 24,2024
EVANSVILLE, IND. (09/25/2024) The University of Evansville (UE) Department of History, Politics, and Social Change is proud to welcome Dr. John C. McManus for the 22nd annual Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture. The lecture will be in Eykamp Hall in the Ridgway University Center on Friday, October 4, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
McManus is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). He pursued undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Missouri and received his PhD from the University of Tennessee.
As one of the nation’s leading military historians, and the author of fifteen well received books on the topic, he is in frequent demand as a speaker and expert commentator. In addition to dozens of local and national radio programs, he has appeared on CNN.com, Fox News, C-Span, the Military Channel, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Netflix, the Smithsonian Network, the History Channel and PBS, among others.
He is the host of two podcasts and served as historical advisor for the bestselling book and documentary Salinger, which appeared nationwide in theaters and on PBS’s American Masters Series. During the 2018-2019 academic year, he was in residence at the U.S. Naval Academy as the Leo A. Shifrin Chair of Naval and Military History, a distinguished visiting professorship. His most recent project has been a major three volume history of the U.S. Army in the Pacific/Asia theater during World War II which culminated with the 2023 publication of To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945.
“Professor McManus is one of the world’s leading historians of World War II and it is an enormous privilege to bring him to the University of Evansville to deliver the 2024 Fiddick Lecture and interact with students in class,” said Dr. James MacLeod, professor of history and director of the Fiddick Memorial Lecture Series. “Given the fact that the lecture will mark 80 years since some of the key battles of the Pacific War, and Tom Fiddick’s lifelong interest in the War, this lecture topic is particularly appropriate.”
Thomas C. Fiddick, for whom the Fiddick Memorial Lecture is named, served as professor of history at the University of Evansville from 1963 to 2002. In his 39 years at the University, he was a dedicated teacher, a productive scholar, and a tireless fighter in the cause of justice. His book, Russia’s Retreat from Poland, 1920: From Permanent Revolution to Peaceful Coexistence, is still considered to be the best book on this topic. Tom’s untimely death on the day of his retirement in 2002 stunned the entire UE community, especially his many former students. It was from the former students’ efforts in particular, with the support of Dr Fiddick’s friends and the University, that the annual Thomas C. Fiddick Memorial Lecture was established.
“For over twenty years, the Fiddick Lecture has been one of the best events of the year, as we get to celebrate the career of a truly outstanding faculty member here at UE,” MacLeod added. “Tom Fiddick was a brilliant scholar and an incredible teacher who made a life-transforming impact on generations of students.”
