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Posted: 4/04/02

TAMIU's Dr. Jerry Thompson Receives Gaspar Perez de Villagra Award

 

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Dr. Jerry Thompson, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Texas A&M International University and noted Civil War scholar, has received a prestigious award for the publication of his book, Civil War in the Southwest.

The Gaspar Perez de Villagra Award, given by the Historical Society of New Mexico, will be presented to Dr. Thompson "for an outstanding publication by an individual." Thompson will travel to Las Cruces, N.M. next week to receive the award at the joint conference of the Historical Society of New Mexico and the Arizona Historical Society.

Thompson, who recently received the Regents Professor Service Award from The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, is the author of 18 books and more than 30 articles and considered one of the country's top scholars on the Southwest Campaign of the American Civil War and Border History.

A member of the A&M International faculty since 1987, he holds his doctorate in history from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn. His M.A. in history was received from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, while his B.A. in history was earned at Western New Mexico State University in Silver City, N.M.

He is a member of the prestigious Philosophical Society of Texas and a Piper Professor honoree. He is also a member of the Western Writers of American and president of the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).

Recently, Thompson attended the 106th Annual Meeting of the TSHA in Corpus Christi, and presented his presidential speech on "Winfield Scott's Army of Occupation as Pioneer Alpinists: Epic Ascents of Popocatepetl and Citlatepetl."

Among his other publications are Civil War in the Southwest; A Wild and Vivid Land: An Illustrated History of the South Texas Border; Fifty Miles and a Fight: Samuel Peter Heintzelman's Journal or Texas and the Cortina War; and Into the Far, Wild Country: True Tales of the Old Southwest.

He is presently at work on a biography of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and is finishing a book with Larry Jones, independent researcher and rare photography collector, on the Civil War on the Rio Grande, which includes 130 rare photographs.

For further information, please contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at 326-2180.

University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.


Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu