Theodore A. Wilson

Ted Wilson
  • Professor Emeritus

Contact Info

Biography —

Theodore A. Wilson (Ph.D., Indiana University,1966) became a member of the University of Kansas in 1965. His research focused on the intersections of politics, national security policies, and foreign affairs during the period, 1940-1975, and in recent years chiefly on military dimensions of World War II. A recipient of Guggenheim and NEH fellowships, Wilson held visiting appointments at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Leicester University, University College Dublin, and he served as Senior Research Fellow during 1989-91 at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Author or editor of such works as The First Summit: Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay, 1941, Makers of American Diplomacy, D-Day 1944, and Victory in Europe, 1945: From World War to Cold War. Since 1986, he has been General Editor of the University Press of Kansas series, Modern War Studies. Forthcoming books include Coalition Warfare: A History and Building Warriors: The Selection and Training of U.S. Ground Combat Forces in World War II.

Teaching —

Honored with a W.T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1997, in recent years Wilson’s teaching in both graduate and undergraduate courses emphasized 20th century U.S. history and especially the eras of World War II and the Cold War. His course on World War II, offered for some thirty-five years, enrolled more than 10,000 KU undergraduates. He has supervised more than 30 honors theses, chaired 52 M.A.’s, and directed 51 Ph.D. dissertations.

Past Courses:

  • HIST 340: The Second World War
  • HIST 440: War and American Society
  • HIST 444: Frozen in Time: Politics and Culture of the Cold War
  • HIST 801: Colloquium in the History of Coalition Warfare
  • HIST 806: The Study of Military History
  • HIST 962: Research Seminar in U.S. History

Selected Publications —

  • ”Introduction: Individuals, Narratives, and Diplomatic History," in J. Garry Clifford and Theodore A. Wilson, eds., Presidents, Diplomats and Other Mortals: Essays in Honor of Robert H. Ferrell (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2007).
  • "Blundering on the Brink, 1941: FDR and the 203-202 Vote Reconsidered," in J. Garry Clifford and Theodore A. Wilson, eds., Presidents, Diplomats and Other Mortals: Essays in Honor of Robert H. Ferrell (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2007).
  • “Gotterdammerung: War’s End in Europe, 1945,” in Matthew Moten, ed., Between War and Peace: Problems in American War Termination (New York: Free Press, 2010).