Dunn, Richard S

Richard Slator Dunn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1928. His father, William P. Dunn, was Professor of English of the University of Minnesota. Dunn graduated with B.A. from Harvard College in 1950, M.A. from Princeton University in 1952 and Ph.D. in History from the same university in 1955. He started his teaching career in Princeton in 1954. After he completed his Ph.D. program, Dunn taught at the University of Michigan from 1955 to 1957. He joined the faculty of the History Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1957 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1963 and full Professor in 1968. In 1972, Dunn was appointed Chairman of the Department of History, a position he held until 1977. Dunn founded the McNeil Center for Early American Studies the following year and served as the first director of the Center. In 1992, he was appointed editor of the Early American Studies series published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Dunn retired in 1996 and was elected Professor Emeritus of History of the University of Pennsylvania.