Alma mater Rice University Role Historian Name Walter Buenger | Religion Presbyterian Years active 1977- Education Rice University | |
Born January 19, 1951 (age 73) ( 1951-01-19 ) Fort Stockton, Pecos County
Texas, USA Residence Bryan
Brazos County
Texas Occupation Historian
Professor at Texas A&M University Spouse(s) Victoria L. "Vickie" Buenger Books The path to a modern South, Texas Through Time, Secession and the Union in, But also good business, Texas Merchant: Marvin Le | ||
Walter Louis Buenger (born January 19, 1951) is an historian of Texas and the American South and, since 2017, is a professor of history at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
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Background
Buenger received all three of his degrees, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Ph.D., from Rice University in Houston in 1973, 1977, and 1979, respectively. Immediately thereafter at the age of twenty-eight, he joined the history faculty at TAMU. He became head of the History department in 2002 and remained there until 2017 when he accepted a position with the University of Texas at Austin . Simultaneously, he became the Chief Historian at the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
Scholarly pursuits
Buenger's 2001 book The Path to a Modern South: Northeast Texas Between Reconstruction and the Great Depression was awarded the Coral H. Tullis Award, given annually to a book that focuses on Texas. He is a fellow, past president (2009–2010) and current Chief Historian of the Texas State Historical Association.
Family
The Buengers, who reside in Austin, Texas, Texas, have a son, Carl Davis Buenger (born ca. 1988), who graduated from Rice University with a mathematics degree in 2010. Their daughter, Erin Channing Buenger, died in 2009 of neuroblastoma pediatric cancer at the age of eleven. Former U.S. Representative Chet Edwards, a Buenger family friend, sponsored a successful bill to earmark $150 million toward a cure for neuroblastoma and other cancers. The measure was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush in July 2008.