| Donald A. Yerxa | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Hingham, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | U.S. |
| Alma mater | Eastern Nazarene College, University of Maine |
| Employer | Boston University |
| Known for | Editor, Historian |
| Title | Director, Senior Editor |
| Religion | Christian |
| Website | |
| http://www.enc.edu/history/faculty.html | |
Donald A. Yerxa is a author, editor and historian.
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Yerxa received his Bachelor's degree in History from the Eastern Nazarene College in 1972. He received a Master's degree (1974) and Ph.D. (1982) from the University of Maine on a university fellowship. A noted historian,[1] Yerxa is a Director of The Historical Society (THS)[2] at Boston University (BU) and a Senior Editor of Historically Speaking, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press[3] for BU.
He is the former chair of the James R. Cameron Center for History, Law, & Government at his alma mater, the Eastern Nazarene College (ENC), where he taught from 1977 to 2009,[4] and launched the history department's distinguished lecture series in the 1990s.[5] He was a member of the executive board for the Conference on Faith and History[6] from 2002 to 2006, currently serves on the editorial board of the online journal New Global Studies,[7] and is editing a multi-volume series, Historians in Conversation, for the University of South Carolina Press.
He guest edits for publications, such as the European Review, for which he guest edited a forum on the Scientific Revolution, and is a Contributing Editor for Christianity Today's Books and Culture magazine.[8] He is a frequent contributor to the Research News & Opportunities in Science and Theology publication for the John Templeton Foundation (JTF) and has been a multiple grant recipient.[9] His most recent grant organized a conference on "British Abolitionism, Moral Progress, and Big Questions in History."[10]
Yerxa has written encyclopedia entries for four encyclopedias on United States history and the history of science,[11] and is the author of three books, two on naval history: Admirals and Empire,[12] and The Burning of Falmouth,[13] and Species of Origins: America’s Search for a Creation Story[14] with coauthor Karl Giberson. Admirals was described as "solidly researched, clearly and economically written, and intelligently conceived... a useful synthesis filling a gap in the existing literature,"[15] Species of Origins was widely reviewed as a uniquely even-handed and concise contribution to the scholarship on the Creation–evolution controversy in the United States.
Galileo scholar William Shea lauded the account as the "best-written and most perceptive of the current accounts available,"[16] while author Edward Larson described it as the "next best thing for those of us not enrolled in their courses."[17] Professor of science Michael Ruse described it as “a simply invaluable primer on the subject that should be made compulsory reading for all who have ever thought on science-and-religion ... I can think of no better place to start into the debate about origins — creationism or evolution — than with this book.”[18] It has been the subject of and catalyst for various discussions, conferences, and other books.[19]