Trinity University

Susie P. Gonzalez
susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu
210-999-8445
Jul. 31, 2012

Trinity University Middle East Scholar Named the Halsell Professor of History

David Lesch has written or edited 12 books and advised government officials

SAN ANTONIO - David W. Lesch, professor of Middle East history at Trinity University, has been named the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History, effective in 2015. He will assume the post when John McCusker, Ph.D., who currently holds the title, retires.

Lesch is the author or editor of 12 books focusing on the Middle East. Among them are Syria: the Fall of the House of Assad (Yale University Press, 2012); The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History (Oxford University Press, 2008); The New Lion of Damascus (Yale University Press, 2005); 1979: The Year That Shaped the Modern Middle East (Westview Press, 2001); and The Middle East and the United States: History, Politics and Ideologies, now in its 5^th edition (Westview Press, 2011).  His new edited volume, The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East is due out in November.

As an expert on the Middle East, he has consistently advised high-level officials in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the United Nations on diplomatic issues, testified frequently before Senate and House committees in Washington, and briefed officials in the White House, State Department, Pentagon, and other government departments. He also has worked directly with former U.S. presidents engaged in Middle East negotiations.

Lesch also has published numerous articles in leading journals, book chapters, and essays in such noted publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, and CNN.com. He has been quoted in more than 400 newspapers worldwide, featured in magazines articles in 20 countries, appeared as a frequent guest on national and international television and radio programs such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, Al-Jazeera, NPR, and the BBC, and was a featured commentator on several televised documentaries on The History Channel and PBS. He is also currently involved as a producer, screenwriter, and consultant on a feature film on the Middle East.

He is on the board of a number of organizations involved in Middle East affairs. As a senior adviser to the Abraham Path Initiative (API), Lesch has spearheaded attempts to establish the API in Syria and Lebanon.  The API is a multinational project sponsored by Harvard University to construct a touristic walking trail throughout the Middle East to enhance cross-cultural dialogue.

Lesch received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1991 and has been at Trinity since 1992. At Trinity, he has served on numerous committees, led Trinity's Model Arab League program for nine years, and was chair or co-chair of the history department from 2008 to 2012. He received the Trinity University award for outstanding research in 2008. He was also the No. 1 draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980.

The Halsell Professorship was made possible by a gift in 1989 from the Ewing Halsell Foundation.