title: John A. Lynn
text: # John A. Lynn
  
  John Albert Lynn (born March 18, 1943) is a military historian who has written on a wide variety of topics in his field, with an emphasis on early modern Europe.
  
  ## Early life and education
  
  Born in Glenview, Illinois, in 1943, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1964), his Master of Arts degree at the University of California, Davis (1967), and his Ph.D. at UCLA (1973).
  
  ## Career
  
  Lynn taught briefly at Indiana University and the University of Maine, before joining the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1978. During 1994-1995, he was the Oppenheimer Professor of Warfighting Strategy at the Marine Corps University at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Retiring from the University of Illinois in 2009, he taught for three years at Northwestern University as Distinguished Professor of Military History. In 2012, he returned to the University of Illinois to teach part-time as Professor Emeritus of History and in the Department of Political Science, which he has continued to do up to the present. His current research and teaching interests center on the history of terrorism.
  
  ## Awards
  
  While at the University of Illinois, Lynn received several teaching awards, including the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2001.
  
  He served as president of the United States Commission on Military History (2003-2007) and vice-president of the Society for Military History (2005-2007).
  
  He has been awarded two foreign decorations: the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques at the rank of chevalier (2004) and the Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite at the rank of commandeur (2006).
  
  In 2017, he received the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society for Military History. This award is given in recognition of career accomplishments and contributions; it is the highest award granted by the Society. In August 2017, Lynn was awarded a NEH Public Scholar Grant to fund research and writing on his current project, a history of surrender.
  
  