Hanke, Lewis

Hanke, Lewis (Ulysses) (1905–  ) historian; born in Oregon City, Ore. Educated at Northwestern (B.S. 1924; M.A. 1925) and Harvard (Ph.D. 1936), he taught at the University of Texas (1951–61), Columbia University (1961–67), the University of California: Irvine (1967–69), and the University of Massachusetts (1969–75; professor emeritus, 1975). He directed the Hispanic Foundation of the Library of Congress (1939–51), was special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, and member of the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (1952–54). Often credited with establishing Latin American history as a viable academic discipline in the U.S., his international reputation is reflected by his numerous international honorary degrees. His personal scholarship focused on the Spanish viceroys and Dominican missionary Bartolome de Las Casas, and he organized massive sources into usable forms. His five volume Guide to the Study of United States History Outside the U.S., 1945–1980 (1985), reveals how foreigners study the United States. He received the Nebrija Award, one of Spain's highest cultural honors, in 1992.