Sept. 27, 2006 -- Norman Graebner, the Randolph P. Compton Professor of History and Public Affairs Emeritus, will deliver a special lecture on Sept. 29 as part of U.Va.’s national campaign launch weekend.

Graebner will speak on “Realism Amid the Perils of Partiality.” He will frame his lecture with lessons
learned from the founding fathers and analysis of “wars of choice,” including Vietnam and Iraq.

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation, the Jefferson Trust and the U.Va. Alumni Association is hosting his lecture, which will be given at 4 p.m. in Old Cabell Hall, and is open to the public. A reception will follow. During the event, Graebner will receive the inaugural Award for Excellence from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation to honor his service to the University.

“For so many U.Va. alumni from the late 1960s through the mid-1980s, Norman Graebner was a defining figure of their University experience,” said James H. Wright, president of the Jefferson
Scholars Foundation. “He was, and is, a giant not only of the academy but of this place, and we
seek to commemorate that.”

Graebner arrived at U.Va. in 1967. His first of eight books, “Empire on the Pacific,” published
in 1955, remains the seminal study of America’s 19th century push westward and the business
interests that drove it. Since that work, he has served as editor of nine more books and has contributed hundreds of articles, essays, and chapters of other books. He served 30 years as
contributing editor of Current History.