Patricia Nelson Limerick Biography
Patricia Nelson Limerick is an American historian, author, lecturer, and teacher who is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable on the American West. She is a former president of the American Studies Association (1996-1997) and the Western History Association (2000), as well as the president of the Organization of American Historians (2014).
Patricia Nelson Limerick Age
Nelson was born on 17 May 1951, in Banning, California, United States of America. She is 72 years old as of May 2023.
Patricia Nelson Limerick Education
She earned a B.A. in American studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1972 and a Ph.D. in American studies from Yale University in 1980.
Patricia Nelson Limerick Family
Limerick Nelson was born and reared in Banning, California, the daughter of Grant and Patricia Nelson.
Patricia Nelson Limerick Husband
Limerick’s first marriage was to architect Jeffrey Limerick, who passed away in 2005 from a stroke. In 2007, she married J. Houston Kempton.
Patricia Nelson Limerick Career
Limerick worked as a graduate teaching assistant at Yale University, where she assisted with the highly respected “daily themes” class. From 1980 to 1984, she was an assistant professor of history at Harvard University before joining the University of Colorado at Boulder. Limerick was appointed as an Associate Professor of History in 1987 and promoted to Full Professor in 1991. She was also the Center of the American West’s Board Chair. She is a former president of the American Studies Association (1996-1997) and the Western History Association (2000), as well as the president of the Organization of American Historians (2014) Limerick is best known for her 1987 work The Legacy of Conquest, which is part of a body of historical writing known as the Limerick Trilogy.
She also co-edited Trails: Toward a New Western History, a collection of articles related to her 1989 “Trails Through Time” show. Limerick received a MacArthur Fellowship. She was named Colorado State Historian and served until August 2018. She was also appointed to the National Council on the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities’ advisory council, in January 2016. Limerick was nominated by President Barack Obama in the spring of 2015 and approved by the United States Senate in November of that year. Glen Krutz, the incoming dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder, removed Limerick as director of the Center of the American West in late September 2022.
Patricia Nelson Limerick Net Worth
Nelson has an estimated net worth of 1 million dollars.