Sheldon Hackney
Encyclopedia
Francis Sheldon Hackney (born in Alabama in 1933) is a prominent U.S. educator. He is the Boies Professor of United States History at the University of Pennsylvania
. Hackney earned his Ph.D. in American History at Yale University
, where he worked with eminent Southern historian C. Vann Woodward
. He began his career as a lecturer in history at Princeton University. There, he taught in an Upward Bound program for disadvantaged students and played a role in the creation of the university's African American Studies program. While at Princeton, he moved into administration, serving as the provost from 1972 to 1975. From 1975 to 1980, he was the president of Tulane University
and was president of the University of Pennsylvania
from 1981 to 1993. He was also the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) from 1993 to 1997, appointed by President Clinton
. He was the son-in-law of Virginia and Clifford Durr
.http://www.mvtimes.com/calendar/2007/09/06/sheldon_hackney.php
Hackney specializes in the history of the American South since the Civil War. He has in an interest in American utopias and other social movements with an emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement
and the 1960s. Among the articles and books on history that Hackney has published, Populism to Progressivism in Alabama won the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association
.
Hackney was president of the University of Pennsylvania during the so-called Water Buffalo Incident
, a controversial affair involving a student charged with racial harassment that raised issues involving free speech and university judicial procedures nationally. In particular, Hackney's role in the incident was a subject of his 1993 Senate confirmation hearings for the NEH appointment. Hackney published memoir about the turmoil of his confirmation, The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War [ISBN 1-58838-068-8], was published in 2002.
's bestselling book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
.
Columnist John Leo
's Sheldon Award, given "to the university president who does the most to look the other way when free speech is under assault on campus," was named after Hackney.http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/031110/10john.htm
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Hackney earned his Ph.D. in American History at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he worked with eminent Southern historian C. Vann Woodward
C. Vann Woodward
Comer Vann Woodward was a preeminent American historian focusing primarily on the American South and race relations. He was considered, along with Richard Hofstadter and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to be one of the most influential historians of the postwar era, 1940s-1970s, both by scholars and by...
. He began his career as a lecturer in history at Princeton University. There, he taught in an Upward Bound program for disadvantaged students and played a role in the creation of the university's African American Studies program. While at Princeton, he moved into administration, serving as the provost from 1972 to 1975. From 1975 to 1980, he was the president of Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and was president of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
from 1981 to 1993. He was also the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
(NEH) from 1993 to 1997, appointed by President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. He was the son-in-law of Virginia and Clifford Durr
Clifford Durr
Clifford Durr was an Alabama lawyer who played an important role in defending activists and others accused of disloyalty during the New Deal and McCarthy eras and who represented Rosa Parks in her challenge to the constitutionality of the ordinance requiring the segregation of passengers on buses...
.http://www.mvtimes.com/calendar/2007/09/06/sheldon_hackney.php
Hackney specializes in the history of the American South since the Civil War. He has in an interest in American utopias and other social movements with an emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and the 1960s. Among the articles and books on history that Hackney has published, Populism to Progressivism in Alabama won the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
.
Hackney was president of the University of Pennsylvania during the so-called Water Buffalo Incident
Water buffalo incident
The water buffalo incident was a controversy at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, in which student Eden Jacobowitz was charged with violating the university's racial harassment policy.-History:...
, a controversial affair involving a student charged with racial harassment that raised issues involving free speech and university judicial procedures nationally. In particular, Hackney's role in the incident was a subject of his 1993 Senate confirmation hearings for the NEH appointment. Hackney published memoir about the turmoil of his confirmation, The Politics of Presidential Appointment: A Memoir of the Culture War [ISBN 1-58838-068-8], was published in 2002.
Additional notoriety
Hackney is listed as #87 in Bernard GoldbergBernard Goldberg
Bernard Richard Goldberg , also known as Bernie Goldberg, is an eleven-time Emmy Award-winning American writer, journalist, and political commentator...
's bestselling book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is a non-fiction book by Bernard Goldberg that was published in 2005. The book's central idea is to name and blame a long list of specific individuals for making the United States a "far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place."Goldberg's book denounces many...
.
Columnist John Leo
John Leo
John Leo is a writer and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He edits , the Institute's web site on America's universities, and is a contributing editor of City Journal. He is also a Visitor of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college in Savannah.From 1988 to 2006 his weekly column...
's Sheldon Award, given "to the university president who does the most to look the other way when free speech is under assault on campus," was named after Hackney.http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/031110/10john.htm