Dr. Jerry Thompson Named New Provost at TAMIU

Dr. Jerry Thompson, longtime professor of history and dean of Texas A&M International University's College of Arts and Humanities, has been named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M International University.

Dr. Thompson's selection concludes a national search begun after TAMIU president and former provost Dr. Ray Keck became president Sept. 1. Some 39 candidates were considered.

A member of the A&M International faculty since 1987, Thompson 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.

A noted Civil War scholar, he was recently presented with the Gaspar Pérez de Villagran Award, given by the Historical Society of New Mexico, "for an outstanding publication by an individual" for his Civil War in the Southwest.

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

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).

Among his other publications are A Wild and Vivid Land: An Illustrated History of the South Texas Border; Fifty Miles and a Fight: Samuel Peter Heintzelman's Journal of 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 956.326.2180.

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