Athens, Ga. – John Inscoe, a faculty member noted for his work in Southern history at the University of Georgia since 1984, has been named Albert B. Saye Professor of History.
He succeeds David Roberts, who retired, as holder of the chair named for one of UGA’s most distinguished professors.
“I am very honored to hold a chair named for Dr. Saye, who made such a significant mark on the study of Georgia history and politics during his long, distinguished career here at UGA,” said Inscoe.
Albert Saye began his career at UGA in 1939 when he was appointed an instructor in history. He was later named an assistant professor of political science and became Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor and then Richard B. Russell Professor of Political Science. He was widely known as a leading authority on state and federal constitutional law and was the author of numerous books and articles.
Saye died in 1989. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, “He was the author of 12 books, six of which focused on Georgia history. New Viewpoints in Georgia History (1943), arguably his most famous book, was one of the first scholarly works to refute the assumption that the colony of Georgia was established by debtors. His book Principles of American Government (1950) sold more than 200,000 copies, and his Handbook on the Constitutions of the United States and Georgia (1946) was revised 11 times.”
A native of Morganton, N.C., Inscoe earned his bachelor’s degree at Davidson College and his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After arriving at UGA, he became a full professor in 1998 and University Professor in 2005.
Inscoe is the author of numerous books and articles. Among his books are Race, War, and Remembrance in the Appalachian South (2008) and Mountain Masters: Slavery and the Sectional Crisis in Western North Carolina (1989). His latest book, Writing the South through the Self: Explorations in Southern Autobiography, will come out in 2011 and grew out of a course on Southern autobiography that he has long taught.
In addition, Inscoe has served as the editor of the online New Georgia Encyclopedia since its founding in 1999. He has edited or co-edited many books, and his volume The New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia’s Civil War also will be out in 2011. He was editor of The Georgia Historical Quarterly from 1985-2000. Since 2000 he has served as the secretary-treasurer of the Southern Historical Association, the administrative office of which has long been based at UGA. He also served as the president of the Appalachian Studies Association in 1995 and 1996.
Inscoe teaches courses on the antebellum South, Southern race relations, multicultural Georgia, and the South on film. He has won awards both for his graduate and undergraduate teaching and was last year’s recipient of the UGA Lothar Tresp Award for excellence in teaching Honors courses.
