Douglas Brinkley, Ph.D. Dr. Douglas Brinkley will be our Keynote speaker.* He is a professor of history at Rice University, the CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He earned his B.A. in History at The Ohio State University and his Ph.D. at Georgetown University. Considered America’s foremost U.S. Presidential historian his bestselling books in this genre include The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, The Reagan Diaries and Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His book, Cronkite (2012) won the Ann M. Sperber Prize for Best Book in Journalism and was a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year. His 2007 book, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He is a member of the Society of American Historians and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a featured speaker at the 2013 Day of Courage: A National Movement honoring the 100th birthday of Rosa Parks, held at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. He wrote an authorized biography on Rosa Parks called Rosa Parks: A Life. He […]