chester penn higby (1886–1966) served on the history faculty at the university of wisconsin–madison from 1927 to 1956, and was one of the founders of the "journal of modern history". he also served as the first president of the modern european history section of the american historical association. upon his retirement, several of his former students established a trust fund to provide a cash prize for the best article published in the journal. the prize is awarded during even-numbered years, and past winners have included jan e. goldstein, william w. hagen, susan pedersen, and heinrich august winkler.