Vandiver, Frank Everson, 1925-2005

Historian and college administrator.

From the description of Frank E. Vandiver papers, 1947-1977. (Rice University). WorldCat record id: 28499353

• 1925: Frank E. Vandiver born December 9 to Harry Schultz and Maude Folmsbee Everson Vandiver.
• 1945: Appointed Historian for Army Service Forces Depot, Civil Service, San Antonio.
• 1946 - 1947 : Rockefeller Fellow in Humanities at U.T.
• 1947: Edited The Civil War Diary of General Josiah Gorgas. Edited Confederate Blockade Running Through Bermuda, 1861-1865. Edited Letters and Cargo Manifests.
• 1947 - 1948 : Rockefeller Fellow in American Studies at U.T.
• 1949: Earned M.A. at U.T.
• 1949 - 1951 : Teaching Assistant at Tulane University.
• 1951: Appointed Historian for Air University, Civil Service, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Earned Ph.D. at Tulane.
• 1951 - 1952 : Instructor for Extension Division, U. of Alabama.
• 1952: Married Carol Sue Smith, April 19. Published Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordnance.
• 1952 - 1953 : Instructor at Washington University.
• 1953: Received research grant from the American Philosophical Society.
• 1953 - 1955 : Assistant Professor of History at Washington University, St. Louis.
• 1954: Received research grant from the American Philosophical Society. Edited Proceedings of First Confederate Congress, 4th Session.
• 1954 - 1957 : Professor of History at Louisiana State University, Summer Sessions.
• 1955 - 1956 : Guggenheim Fellow Assistant Professor of History at Rice University.
• 1956: Published Rebel Brass: The Confederate Command System.
• 1956 - 1958 : Associate Professor of History at Rice University.
• 1957: Awarded Huntington Library Research Grant. Published Mighty Stonewall.
• 1958 - 1965 : Professor of History at Rice University.
• [1959]: Became member of the Civil War Centennial Commission's Advisory Council.
• 1959: Edited Proceedings of Second Confederate Congress.
• 1960: Received research grant from the American Philosophical Society. Published Fields of Glory with W. H. Nelson. Published Jubal's Raid.
• 1961: Professor of History at U. of Arizona, Summer Session. Awarded Huntington Library Research Grant.
• 1962: Published Basic History of the Confederacy.
• 1962 - 1963 : Served as Chairman of the History and Political Science Dept., Rice University.
• 1963: Harman Lecturer at Air Force Academy. M.A. from Oxford University.
• 1963 - 1964 : Harmsworth Professor of American History, Oxford University.
• 1964: Published Jefferson Davis and the Confederate State. Edited The Idea of the South.
• 1964 - 1966 : Served as Master of Margaret Root Brown College, Rice University.
• 1965 - 1979 : Harris Masterson Jr. Professor of History, Rice University.
• 1967: Keese Lecturer, U. of Chattanooga.
• 1968 - 1969 : Served as Chairman of the History Dept., Rice University.
• 1969 - 1970 : Served as Acting-President of Rice University.
• 1969 - 1974 : Member of the Advisory Council, Office Chief Military History Dept., Army
• 1970: Published Their Tattered Flags: The Epic of the Confederacy. Received Harry S. Truman Award, Kansas City Civil War Round Table. Received Jefferson Davis Award, Confederate Memorial Lit. Society. Received Fletcher Pratt Award, New York Civil War Round Table.
• 1970 - 1972 : Executive Director, American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas.
• 1970 - 1979 : Provost, Rice University.
• 1972 - 1978 : Member of National Council for Humanities.
• 1973: Member of Board of Editors, U.S. Grant Papers.
• 1973 - 1974 : Visiting Professor of Military History, U.S. Military Academy.
• 1974: Received First Outstanding Alumnus Award from Tulane University Graduate School. Received Civilian Service Medal, Army. Fortenbaugh Lecturer at Gettysburg College.
• 1975: Published The Southwest: South or West?. Named Honorary President of Occidental University, St. Louis
• 1977: Published Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing. Received H.H.D. (hon.) from Austin College.
• 1978: National Book Award Finalist.
• 1979 - 1981 : President of North Texas State University.
• 1981 - : President of Texas A&M University.

From the guide to the Frank E. Vandiver papers MS 348., 1947 - 1977, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)

Dr. Frank E. Vandiver, Harris Masterson, Jr., Professor of History, was appointed Rice University Provost in 1970. He served until 1980. The vice-presidential title was added in 1975.

Dr. Vandiver, one of the nation’s foremost military historians, received a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Texas in 1949, and his Ph.D. from Tulane University in 1951. He was awarded a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Oxford in 1963.

Dr. Vandiver came to Rice University in 1955. He served as Rice University’s acting president between 1969 and 1970, the year he was appointed Provost. He also served as Chairman of the History Department. In 1972 he started a six-year term on the National Council on the Humanities, the policy-making arm of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In January 1973, the Secretary of the Army appointed Dr. Vandiver to a five-year term as chairman of the United States Army Military History Research Collection Advisory Committee, which oversees one of the nation’s most important military history collection efforts. In 1969 Dr. Vandiver also served on the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee and in 1971, he was named to the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He taught Civil War History for two years at Oxford in England. He also served as Visiting Professor of Military History at the United States Military Academy at West Point, 1973-1974.

While Dr. Vandiver was at West Point (1973-74), Dr. Joseph Cooper, Professor of Political Science, was appointed acting provost by President Hackerman. He became a member of the Rice faculty in 1967. He was a graduate of Harvard where he received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees. He served as chairman of the Department of Political Science from 1967 to 1972 and was the founding dean of the School of Social Sciences from 1979-88. He is a specialist on the U. S. Congress and has appeared as a witness before Congressional committees on several occasions. In 1976 Dr. Cooper served as staff director of the U. S. House Commission on Administrative Review in Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the Rice University Provost's Office Records: Provost Frank E. Vandiver & Acting Provost Joseph Cooper Rice UA Provost Vandiver & Cooper., 1970-80, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)