Williamson Murray (born November 23, 1941) is an American historian and author. He has authored numerous works on history and strategic studies, and served as an editor on other projects extensively. As of 2012, he is

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of history 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 public ...

Education and service

Murray completed his secondary education in 1959 at Berkshire School in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, graduating in 1963 with honors in history. Following graduation he served as an officer in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for 5 years. He was assigned a tour of duty in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

with the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing operating

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

s. Following his military service he returned to Yale as a graduate student in the Department of History, and in 1974 earned his Ph.D. in military-diplomatic history.

Career

Following his graduation from Yale, Murray taught in the school's history department for two years. In 1977 he took a job at

as a military and diplomatic historian. He was awarded the Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987. He retired from Ohio State in 1995 as a professor emeritus of history. He has taught at a number of universities, military academies and war colleges, including the United States

Air War College The Air War College (AWC) is the senior Professional Military Education (PME) school of the U.S. Air Force. A part of the United States Air Force's Air University, AWC emphasizes the employment of air, space, and cyberspace in joint operati ...

, the United States Military Academy, and the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

. He has served as a Secretary of the Navy Fellow at the Navy War College, the Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, the Matthew C. Horner Professor of Military Theory at the Marine Corps University, the Charles Lindbergh Chair at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, and the Harold K. Johnson Professor of Military History at the Army War College". He has authored numerous works on history and strategic studies, and served as an editor on other projects extensively. As of 2012, he is

of history at

Works

:2017: ''America and the Future of War: The Past as Prologue'' :2016: ''A Savage War: A Military History of the Civil War'' (co-author with Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh.) :2014: ''The Iran-Iraq War (co-author with Kevin Woods) :2014: ''Successful Strategies, Triumphing in War and Peace from Antiquity to the Present'' (co-edited with Richard Sinnreich) :2012: ''Hybrid Warfare: Fighting Complex Opponents from the Ancient World to the Present'' (co-edited with

Peter Mansoor Peter R. Mansoor (born February 28, 1960) is a retired United States Army officer, military historian, and commentator on national security affairs in the media. He is known primarily as the executive officer to General David Petraeus during the I ...

) :2011: ''The Shaping of Grand Strategy: Policy, Diplomacy, and War'' (co-editor with Richard Hart Sinnreich and James Lacey) :2011: ''War, Strategy, and Military Effectiveness'' :2011: ''Military Adaptation in War: With Fear of Change'' :2009: ''Conflicting Currents: Japan and the United States'' :2009: ''The Making of Peace: Rulers, States, and the Aftermath of War'' (co-editor with James Lacey) :2007: ''Calculations, Net Assessment and the Coming of World War II'' (co-author with Allan R. Millett) :2006: ''The Past as Prologue: The Importance of History to the Military Profession'' (co-editor with Richard Sinnreich) :2003: ''The Cambridge History of War'' (contributing editor) :2003: ''The Iraq War: A Military History'' (co-author with Major General Robert Scales, Jr.) :2001: ''A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War'' (co-author with Allan R. Millett) :2001: ''The Dynamics of Military Revolution: 1300-2050'' (co-editor with

MacGregor Knox MacGregor Knox is an American historian of 20th-century Europe, and was from 1994 to 2010 the Stevenson Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He is the son of the British-born classical scholar and historian Berna ...

) :1999: ''War in the Air: 1914-1945'' :1996: ''Military Innovation in the Interwar Period'' (co-editor with Allan R. Millett) :1995: ''The Air War in the Persian Gulf'' :1994: ''The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War'' (co-editor with

and Alvin Bernstein) :1992: ''Calculations, Net Assessment and the Coming of World War II'' (co-editor with A Allan R. Millett) :1992: ''German Military Effectiveness'' :1991: ''Military Effectiveness: Three volumes: The First World War, The Interwar Period, and the Second World War'' (co-editor with Allan R. Millett) :1985: ''Luftwaffe'' :1984: ''The Change in the European Balance of Power, 1938-1939: The Path to Ruin''

References

External links

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Prof. Williamson Murray on Grand Strategy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Williamson Living people Yale University alumni United States Military Academy faculty Ohio State University faculty 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Military historians 1941 births