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Robert F. Berkhofer (November 30, 1931 – June 25, 2012) was an American historian. He was a professor of history emeritus at the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
and former president of the
American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about t ...
.


Early life and education

Berkhofer was born on November 30, 1931, in
Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...
, to Swiss-German parents. The family lived on a dairy farm in Greeneville, New York, where he then contracted
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
at the age of 13 and was confined to a hospital for one year. On the day Japan surrendered in World War II, his mother released him from the hospital and spent three years giving him physical therapy at home so he could walk without a brace. He earned his
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from the
University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
and his PhD from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. He completed his graduate degrees under the guidance of
Paul Wallace Gates Paul Wallace Gates (December 14, 1901 – January 5, 1999) was a professor of history and general historian who is widely considered to be the foremost authority on the history of federal land policy in the United States. Gates wrote 10 books an ...
and earned a fellowship at
Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French mi ...
.


Career

Upon receiving his PhD, Berkhofer spent one academic year at
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
before accepting a position as an
assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...
at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
. During this time, he became engaged and married his wife Genevieve (''nee'' Zito) in 1962. He stayed in Minnesota for nine years, where he rose through the academic ranks to associate professor and chair of American studies by 1969. During this time, he also published his first book through the
University of Kentucky Press The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...
titled ''Salvation and the Savage: An Analysis of Protestant Missions and American Indian Response, 1787-1862.'' Berkhofer left Minnesota in 1969 to accept a professorship position at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, during which he published ''A Behavioral Approach to Historical Analysis.'' In the book, Berkhofer explained that historians should adapt their discipline by learning from two different groups; social scientists and philosophers of science and history. He also played a role in establishing an undergraduate course focused on American Indian history including tribes and the white man's image of Indians. During the 1973–1974 academic year, Berkhofer received a National Endowment for the Humanities Senior Fellowship to study the "evolving concepts of the American Indian." Following the publication of his second book, Berkhofer transferred to the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
(UMich) where he stayed for almost three decades. While there, he received a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
to research United States history and was appointed president of the
American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about t ...
. Berkhofer also continued his studies into American Indians and published ''The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present'' in 1978. In this book, he explored the dichotomy between the Colonial concept of the
noble savage A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in man ...
and bloodthirsty heathens of which only one were considered "worthy of submission." As he grew older and experienced post-polio pains, Berkhofer accepted a one year position at the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
and finally the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
(UCSC). He worked at UCSC from 1991 until 2007, when he chose to retire. Berkhofer died on June 25, 2012, in
Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Da ...
.


Personal life

Prior to his wife's death in 2007, Berkhofer and Genevieve Zito Berkhofer had one son together.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkhofer, Robert F. 2012 deaths 1931 births 20th-century American historians University of Michigan faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Ohio State University faculty University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Cornell University alumni American male non-fiction writers University at Albany, SUNY alumni