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4 historians nominated by Bush to Humanities Council confirmed by Senate

The Senate has confirmed eight new members nominated by President Bush to sit on the of the National Council on the Humanities, a twenty-six member advisory council to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Eight members will begin their duties immediately while two others will officially join the council in July, 2007. The terms of the new members will not expire until 2012.

Notably, a few historians will join the advisory council. They include: Mary Habeck -- an associate professor of history at Yale University and currently a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University. She is the writer and editor of a number of books focusing on international relations in the past and present;

Wilfred M. McClay -- a history professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a former professor at Georgetown University, Tulane University, and Johns Hopkins University. McClay is also a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the author of "The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America" (1994), which received the Organization of American Historians' 1995 Merle Curti Award for the best book in American intellectual history;

Jay Winik -- a leading public historian who has authored numerous books and articles. His New York Times best-selling book, "1865: The Month that Saved America," is part of the "Modern Classic" series and served as the basis for an Emmy-nominated History Channel special; and

Allen Guelzo -- a professor and director of the Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. He has written multiple books and essays, including "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President" and "Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America," both of which won the Lincoln Prize and the Abraham Lincoln Institute Prize.

The other new members of the council are: Jean Bunting III, Jane Marie Doggett, Robert Martin, Manfredi Piccolomini, Kenneth Weinstein, and Jean Bethke Elshtain. These new members bring to the council a wide variety of experiences and knowledge in the humanities. NEH Chair Bruce Cole predicts that, "Their collective wisdom will help guide the Humanities Endowment in the years ahead."

For more detailed profiles of the members, visit

http://www.neh.gov