James Stuart Olson is an academic and Pulitzer Prize-nominated author. In 1994, he was appointed

Distinguished Professor Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs. In the United States Often specific to one institution, titles such ...

of History at Sam Houston State University in

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home ...

. Olson is the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

(or

co-author Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

) of over thirty books, primarily

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

, and usually in the field of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. His most recent book was ''Bathsheba’s Breast: Women, Cancer, and History'', which won the 2002 History of Science Category Award from the

Association of American Publishers The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercia ...

. Olson wrote the book while suffering a malignant growth which resulted in the amputation of his hand.''

History Today ''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...

''; Bathsheba's Breast: Women,...; Jul 2002 The book was recognized by the ''

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'' as one of the best non-fiction books in America for 2002. In November 2008, Olson was honored by his alma mater,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

, with its Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Education

:B.A.,

:M.A., Ph.D., The State University of New York at Stony Brook

Works

*''Native Americans in the Twentieth Century'' (Brigham Young University Press) *''Slave Life in America: A Historiography and Selected Bibliography'' (University Press of America) *''The Ethnic Dimension in American History'' (St. Martin’s Press); *''Saving Capitalism: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the New Deal, 1933-1940'' (Princeton University Press); *''Catholic Immigrants in America'' (Nelson-Hall); *''Winning is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945'' (The Johns Hopkins University Press); *''Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945 to 1990'' * * etc.

Students

*Harold Lee Wise – Author of ''Inside the Danger Zone:The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf, 1987–1988'' (Naval Institute Press, 2007)

References

External links

Olson's homepage at SHSU
American Latter Day Saints American non-fiction writers Brigham Young University alumni Living people Stony Brook University alumni 1946 births {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub