Betty Miller Unterberger
Encyclopedia
Betty Miller Unterberger (born December 27, 1922) is a retired historian
, who as professor
of American
international relations spent the bulk of her extensive academic career at Texas A&M University
. In 1968, she became the first woman on the faculty of the formerly all-male institution, where she continued until her retirement in 2004 at the age of eighty-one.
, Unterberger was reared in the United States. In 1943, aided with a scholarship in speech, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts
degree from Syracuse University
, but her interests lay with history and political science
. In 1946, she received the Master of Arts
in history from the women's Radcliffe College
, now part of Harvard University
.
Unterberger was particularly influenced at Radcliffe/Harvard by the diplomatic historian Thomas A. Bailey
, a visiting scholar from Stanford University
. It was from Bailey that she learned about American troops sent to Siberia
in Russia
at the end of World War I
during the Civil War
between the Bolshevik
s and the Menshevik
s, sometimes known as the "Red" and "White" Russians. Her Ph.D.
dissertation at Duke University
became the basis for her first book on the subject, the award-winning America's Siberian Expedition, 1918-1920: A Study of National Policy.
At Duke, Unterberger enrolled in a seminar
with Professor Charles Sydnor. She wrote a paper on Thomas Braidwood
of Scotland and the origin of schools for the hearing impaired. This article, "The First Attempt to Establish an Oral School for the Deaf and Dumb in the United States," was carried in 1947 in the Journal of Southern History and became the first of her many publications. It is very different in topic to her later writings, the majority of which focus on foreign policy.
. From 1954-1961, she was an associate professor of history and the director of the Liberal Arts Center for Adults at Whittier College
, and from 1961–1965, an associate professor at California State University, Fullerton
, where she was also from 1965 to 1968 professor and chairman of the graduate studies division.
Unterberger came to Texas A&M University
(TAMU) as a full professor in 1968. Her appointment coincidentally developed when her husband, Robert R. Unterberger (born ca. 1921), accepted a full professorship in geophysics
there. "I felt very much alone [as a woman] at Texas A&M, but it wasn't strange to me," Unterberger said much later (There had been only three women professors in southern California at the time the Unterbergers came to Texas). "I had been told that I [was] taking the bread out of the mouths of deserving male grad students," Unterberger often recalls. She told how she became close to the first African American
student who attended her class in 1969: "He came to see me in tears one day saying that on his dormitory
room was a big sign that said 'N--- Go Home!' I took him under my wing. I tried to have students understand one another. The only thing that makes us different is our backgrounds, experience, and differences in cultures." By 1976, TAMU had elected its first black student body president, Fred McClure. She also invited her students on occasion for social gatherings at her home.
From January to August 1979, Unterberger was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow
at Princeton University
. From the late 80s on, she was a frequent visiting professor, teaching at the University of California, Irvine
in 1987, at Peking University
's Institute of International Relations in 1988, and at Prague's Charles University in 1992. In 1991, she was appointed Patricia and Bookman Peters Professor of History at TAMU, and in 2000 was elevated to Regents professor of the Texas A&M University System
.
A high point of Unterberger's career was her election in 1986 as president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
, an organization 99 percent male founded in 1967, defeating Robert Dallek
. In 2004, the society established the Betty M. Unterberger Dissertation Prize in her honor. Toward the end of her career, She developed an interest in India
and Pakistan
, particularly the work of Pandurang Shastri Athavale
, or the "Dada", the founder the Swadhyay Movement
. According to her, Swadhyay has "liberated millions from poverty and moral dissipation." In 1997, she successfully nominated Athavale for the $1.3 million Templeton Prize
for Progress in Religion.
, Unterberger's Harvard graduate school advisor, had urged her to marry Robert. At first reluctant, she consented after being stricken by influenza
. Robert Unterberger is a veteran of both World War II
and the Korean War
. He was severely injured when his jeep blew up in the Philippines
two days after the official end of World War II. The Unterbergers have three children, Glenn A. Unterberger (born 1951), Gail L. Unterberger (born 1952), Gregg R. Unterberger (born 1958). Howard Jones had much impact on Unterberger, having introduced her to the technical advantages of having a dictaphone
in her historical writing.
Unterberger is a cancer
survivor, having endured four surgeries between 1950 and 1964. The couple lives in College Station, Texas
.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, who as professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
international relations spent the bulk of her extensive academic career at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. In 1968, she became the first woman on the faculty of the formerly all-male institution, where she continued until her retirement in 2004 at the age of eighty-one.
Background
A native of ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Unterberger was reared in the United States. In 1943, aided with a scholarship in speech, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, but her interests lay with history and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. In 1946, she received the Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in history from the women's Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
, now part of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Unterberger was particularly influenced at Radcliffe/Harvard by the diplomatic historian Thomas A. Bailey
Thomas A. Bailey
Thomas Andrew Bailey was a professor of history at his alma mater, Stanford University, and authored many historical monographs on diplomatic history, including the widely-used American history textbook, The American Pageant...
, a visiting scholar from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. It was from Bailey that she learned about American troops sent to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
during the Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
between the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s and the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
s, sometimes known as the "Red" and "White" Russians. Her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
dissertation at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
became the basis for her first book on the subject, the award-winning America's Siberian Expedition, 1918-1920: A Study of National Policy.
At Duke, Unterberger enrolled in a seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
with Professor Charles Sydnor. She wrote a paper on Thomas Braidwood
Thomas Braidwood
Thomas Braidwood was born at Hillhead Farm, Covington, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the fourth child of Thomas Braidwood and Agnes Meek. Braidwood originally established himself as a writing master instructing the children of the wealthy at his private building based in Canongate in Edinburgh...
of Scotland and the origin of schools for the hearing impaired. This article, "The First Attempt to Establish an Oral School for the Deaf and Dumb in the United States," was carried in 1947 in the Journal of Southern History and became the first of her many publications. It is very different in topic to her later writings, the majority of which focus on foreign policy.
Academic career
From 1948-1950, while she was still working on her Ph.D., Unterberger taught at East Carolina UniversityEast Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...
. From 1954-1961, she was an associate professor of history and the director of the Liberal Arts Center for Adults at Whittier College
Whittier College
Whittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. As of January 2009, the college has approximately 1540 enrolled students.-Overview:...
, and from 1961–1965, an associate professor at California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...
, where she was also from 1965 to 1968 professor and chairman of the graduate studies division.
Unterberger came to Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
(TAMU) as a full professor in 1968. Her appointment coincidentally developed when her husband, Robert R. Unterberger (born ca. 1921), accepted a full professorship in geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
there. "I felt very much alone [as a woman] at Texas A&M, but it wasn't strange to me," Unterberger said much later (There had been only three women professors in southern California at the time the Unterbergers came to Texas). "I had been told that I [was] taking the bread out of the mouths of deserving male grad students," Unterberger often recalls. She told how she became close to the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
student who attended her class in 1969: "He came to see me in tears one day saying that on his dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
room was a big sign that said 'N--- Go Home!' I took him under my wing. I tried to have students understand one another. The only thing that makes us different is our backgrounds, experience, and differences in cultures." By 1976, TAMU had elected its first black student body president, Fred McClure. She also invited her students on occasion for social gatherings at her home.
From January to August 1979, Unterberger was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is a private non-profit foundation based in Princeton, New Jersey. It administers programs that support leadership development and build organizational capacity in education. Its current signature program is the...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. From the late 80s on, she was a frequent visiting professor, teaching at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
in 1987, at Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
's Institute of International Relations in 1988, and at Prague's Charles University in 1992. In 1991, she was appointed Patricia and Bookman Peters Professor of History at TAMU, and in 2000 was elevated to Regents professor of the Texas A&M University System
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
.
A high point of Unterberger's career was her election in 1986 as president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is the leading learned society for the academic study of the history of United States foreign policy....
, an organization 99 percent male founded in 1967, defeating Robert Dallek
Robert Dallek
Robert Dallek is an American historian specializing in American presidents. He is a recently retired Professor of History at Boston University and has previously taught at Columbia University, UCLA, and Oxford...
. In 2004, the society established the Betty M. Unterberger Dissertation Prize in her honor. Toward the end of her career, She developed an interest in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, particularly the work of Pandurang Shastri Athavale
Pandurang Shastri Athavale
Shastri Pandurang Vaijnath Athavale , also known as Dada-ji , which literally translates as elder brother in Marathi, was an Indian philosopher, spiritual leader, social reformer and Hinduism reformist, who founded the Swadhyay Movement and the Swadhyay Parivar organization in 1954, a...
, or the "Dada", the founder the Swadhyay Movement
Swadhyay Movement
Swadhyay, a Sanskrit word, means self-study, but it is more than what it connotes. Lord Krishna mentioned Swadhyay as one of the divine attributes one should have it and one of the four Yagna . Also, it is an austerity of speech...
. According to her, Swadhyay has "liberated millions from poverty and moral dissipation." In 1997, she successfully nominated Athavale for the $1.3 million Templeton Prize
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical...
for Progress in Religion.
Family
Robert Unterberger also holds a Ph.D. from Duke University. Howard Mumford JonesHoward Mumford Jones
For the Louisiana state senator, see Howard M. Jones .Howard Mumford Jones was a U.S. writer, literary critic, and professor of English at Harvard University....
, Unterberger's Harvard graduate school advisor, had urged her to marry Robert. At first reluctant, she consented after being stricken by influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
. Robert Unterberger is a veteran of both World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He was severely injured when his jeep blew up in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
two days after the official end of World War II. The Unterbergers have three children, Glenn A. Unterberger (born 1951), Gail L. Unterberger (born 1952), Gregg R. Unterberger (born 1958). Howard Jones had much impact on Unterberger, having introduced her to the technical advantages of having a dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
in her historical writing.
Unterberger is a cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
survivor, having endured four surgeries between 1950 and 1964. The couple lives in College Station, Texas
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
.