Francis Hillary Conroy was born in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1919. He began his formal education at Northwestern University, earning a B.S. in 1941, and continued at the University of California, where he earned an M.A. in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1949. After completing his dissertation he began an extensive teaching career, first as a Lecturer of Far Eastern History at the University of California, and two years later as a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued at Penn. until his retirement in 1990, whereupon he was elected Professor Emeritus. Conroy has written extensively Asian American history. His publications include; The Japanese Frontier in Hawaii, 1868-1898 (1953), The Japanese Seizure of Korea, 1868-1910: A Study of Realism and Idealism in International Relations (1960), China and Japan: A Search for Balance Since World War II (1978), and America Views China: American Images of China Then and Now (1991).
From the description of F. Hilary Conroy papers 1972-1988. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 310352516
