William Thomas, the John and Catherine Angle Chair in the Humanities and professor in the Department of History, was elected Vice President of the American Historical Association's Research Division.
The AHA promotes historical work and the importance of historical thinking in public life. Incorporated by Congress in 1889, it is the largest membership association of professional historians in the world with over 11,000 members. The Research Division works to help promote historical scholarship, preserve historical documents and artifacts, ensure equal and open access to information, and fosters the dissemination of information about historical records and research.
Thomas served as chair of the department from 2010 to 2016 and currently serves as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War (November 2020, Yale University Press) and is co-producing a series of animated documentary films based on his research.
