9/30/09 Brian Linn appointed Thomas Professor in Liberal Arts

Watch as we walk into Linn's classroom to announce the professorship. Also colleagues and students comment on Linn.

• History Professor Brian Linn appointed to the Ralph R. Thomas Class of ’21 Professorship in Liberal Arts.
• His appointment recognizes a solid record of scholarship, teaching, and service to the College of Liberal Arts and in his field – military history.
• Linn previously held the Claudius M. Easley Jr. Faculty Fellowship in Liberal Arts.

Brian M. Linn appointed to Thomas Professorship in Liberal Arts

Brian McAllister Linn, professor of history, has been appointed to the Ralph R. Thomas Class of ’21 Professorship in Liberal Arts, effective Sept. 1, 2009.  His appointment recognizes a solid record of scholarship, teaching, and service to the College of Liberal Arts and in his field – military history.  Linn previously held the Claudius M. Easley Jr. Faculty Fellowship in Liberal Arts.

Linn grew up in Hawaii and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawai’i in 1978. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in 1985 and came to Texas A&M University in 1989 from Old Dominion University.

In his 20 years at Texas A&M, he has written four books.  The U.S. Army and counterinsurgency in the Philippine War 1899-1902 (1989) was a path-breaking work in the study of the American experience with irregular warfare. Guardians of Empire: The U.S. Army and the Pacific, 1902-1940 (1997) won the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Prize, an Army Historical Foundation Book Award, and was selected a Choice Outstanding Book. The Philippine War, 1899-1902 (2000) won the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Prize; was a History Book Club Selection; and is a selection on both the U.S. Army Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading List and the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading List.

His most recent book, The Echo of Battle: The Army’s Way of War (2007) has been described in a review as “the best and practically only book to explore the ‘intellectual underpinnings’ of a service branch.” In this book, Linn examines the competing philosophies between planning for war and the way a war would be fought.  Linn completed the research and writing for The Echo of Battle: The Army’s Way of War with assistance from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.

In addition to his scholarship in military history, Linn has a solid record as a teacher of undergraduate courses and a mentor of graduate students. He has taught seven undergraduate history courses and developed a writing-intensive course for his class in American military history. On the graduate level, Linn has taught two courses in the history department and one course for in the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. He also has chaired four doctoral dissertations. All of these doctoral students have or will soon publish a single authored book, as well as numerous articles, a strong testimony to Linn’s mentorship.

Linn has served as a visiting professor at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the U.S. Army War College, and more recently, spent a semester in at the National University in Singapore as a Fulbright Scholar. Linn is president of the Society for Military History and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Military History. He also served on the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee and has given invited lectures in Australia, Canada, England, France, New Zealand, Scotland, and Sweden.

He currently is working two projects.  One, “Elvis’ Army and the Cold War, 1946-1976,” explores the United States’ experience with a draftee military force.  The other project, “Recovering From War,” studies the impact of six major conflicts upon the US armed forces.

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09/30/09