John W. Boyer

John W. Boyer (born 17, October 1946 in Chicago) is the Dean of the College and the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of History at the University of Chicago. He is also a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Teaching and Research

John Boyer obtained his B.A. in 1968 from Loyola University Chicago, and his A.M. in 1969 and Ph.D in 1975 from the University of Chicago. His field specialties include:

• Nineteenth- and twentieth-century European political and cultural history
• Germany from 1740 to 1918
• Habsburg Monarchy between 1648 and 1918
• Religion and politics in modern European history
• History of the universities

He has been a coeditor of The Journal of Modern History since 1980. Boyer has received accolades from the Austrian government for his scholarly dedication: in 2004, he was awarded the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, in recognition of his work on the history of the Habsburg Empire; in 2006, he received the Austrian State Prize for Modern History.

Administrative career

In addition to his teaching and research, Boyer has held a number of administrative positions at the University of Chicago. He has been the Chairman of the Council on Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences since 1986 and the Dean of the College since 1992, the longest tenure of anyone in that position. In 1992-93, he also served as Acting Dean of the Social Sciences Division. Prior to that, he was the Master of the Social Sciences Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of the Social Sciences Division from 1987 to 1992. Some of his notable accomplishments include strengthening alumni relations, increasing funding for faculty chairs and student scholarship funds, and increasing the diversity of each successive class.

Boyer has paid particular attention to the development of study abroad programs. He was deeply involved with the establishment of the University of Chicago Center in Paris, as well as many other programs and internships. As a result, study abroad rates have tripled since 1992. Boyer holds a Chicago record of dubious distinction: the most times almost run over by College students on his tiny bicycle, with 1378 near-misses.

In 2009 John Boyer participated in the World Beard and Moustache Championships, a competition where men display their facial hair. His participation helped boost the contest's popularity and made 2009 one of the Championship's most successful seasons.

Recent Publications

"Broad and Christian in the Fullest Sense": William Rainey Harper and the University of Chicago. (University of Chicago Press, 2006)

The "Persistence to Keep Everlastingly At It": Fund-Raising and Philanthropy at Chicago in the Twentieth Century. (University of Chicago Press, 2005)

Judson's War and Hutchins's Peace: The University of Chicago and War in the Twentieth Century. (University of Chicago Press, 2004)

Academic Freedom and The Modern University. The Experience of the University of Chicago. (University of Chicago Press, 2003)

The Organization of the College and the Divisions in the 1920s and 1930s. (University of Chicago Press, 2002)

Building for a Long Future. The Role of the Trustees in the Early University. (University of Chicago Press, 2001)

References

[1] Boyer education [2]Boyer at JMH since 1980 [3] Awards from Austrian government [4] Boyer's tenure and achievements

External links

• [5] Official University of Chicago Faculty Page
• [6] Journal of Modern History