Gary Moulton to Deliver Nebraska Lecture March 30

Lincoln, Neb., March 16th, 2004 — Gary Moulton, Thomas Sorensen professor of American history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will deliver the next Nebraska Lecture: The Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series.

The lecture, "Sampling Lewis and Clark: Selected Readings from the Journals and Discussion of Events in Context," begins at 4 p.m. March 30 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium, 1400 R St. The lecture is free and open to the public.

At this lecture, Moulton will read selections from the explorers' journals, and then place the selections into historical context.

Moulton is an internationally recognized scholar and expert who recently completed editing a 13-volume series "The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark." The series, published by the University of Nebraska Press, was a 20-year project for Moulton, who notes it took him 10 times longer to edit and publish the journals than it took the explorers to complete the expedition.

Moulton began the project in 1979, after having been recruited to join the university's Center for Great Plains Studies to edit the historic journals. The final book in the series, an abridged edition, condensing some 5,500 journal pages into one volume, was published in 2003.

In January, Moulton announced his intention to retire June 30, almost 25 years to the day that he started at UNL.

This historian and documentary editor got his start in a specialized field as editor of "The Papers of Chief John Ross," a four-year project by the National Archives. He earned his Ph.D. and his M.A. at Oklahoma State University, and then became assistant professor of history at Southwestern Oklahoma State University where he worked on the John Ross project.

Moulton's stature as an editor and historian increased with each published volume. He is the recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of the Lewis and Clark journals, and he won the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award in 2001 from the University of Nebraska. In December 2003, the Omaha World-Herald named him its "Midlander of the Year."

The Nebraska Lectures are intended to share with the public the important research and scholarly activity conducted by faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Previous lecturers have included David Forsythe, Charles J. Mach distinguished professor of political science; John Janovy, Varner professor of biological sciences; Barbara Plake, W.C. Meierhenry distinguished university professor of educational psychology; Susan Rosowski, Adele Hall distinguished professor of English; and James Van Etten, Allington professor of plant sciences.

The lecture also will be videostreamed live on the World Wide Web; a link can be found the day of the event at www.unl.edu. A reception follows the lecture in the Regency Room of the Nebraska Union.

The Nebraska Lectures: The Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series are co-sponsored by the UNL Research Council, the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. This particular lecture also is sponsored by the Nebraska Humanities Council and the University of Nebraska Press.

CONTACT: Steve Ragsdale, Bessey Professor, Biochemistry, (402) 472-2943