Lawrence Henry Gipson (1880–September 26, 1971) was an American historian, who won the 1950 Bancroft Prize and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for History. He is best known as a leader of the "Imperial school" of historians who studied the British Empire from the perspective of London officials, and generally praised the administrative efficiency and political fairness of the Empire .
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A native of Greeley, Colorado, Gipson moved with his family to Caldwell, Idaho as a boy. After dropping out of high school, he worked at various odd jobs (such as mining and driving stage coaches), as well as at the family business, Caxton Press, which published Idaho Odd Fellow, the Gem State Rural and Livestock Farmer.
Gipson graduated from the University of Idaho in 1903. He was then selected to be one of the first Rhodes Scholars. Receiving his B.A. from Oxford University in 1907 he said: "One disadvantage that our first delegation of Rhodes Scholars labored under was the fact that we attracted so much attention. I am sure that no subsequent group was ever the object of such intense curiosity. Almost inevitably we were made conscious that each of us was on trial, especially in the eyes of the scholarly world. We were even made to feel that in a sense the reputation of American scholarship was in our hands."
Returning to the United States, Gipson taught at The College of Idaho for three years and, in 1909, married Jeannette Reed (who died in 1967). He then attended Yale University as a Farnham Fellow from 1910 to 1911 before being named head of the history department at Wabash College, a position he held until 1924. While teaching at Wabash, he received his Ph.D. from Yale University, in 1918. He studied with the eminent colonialist Charles M. Andrews and received the university's John Addison Porter Prize for that year.
In 1924, Gipson was appointed professor of history at Lehigh University, a position he held until his death. There he wrote the 15-volume series The British Empire Before the American Revolution, (15 vol., 1936-70), completing the final volume only shortly before his death. Three of the volumes were given significant historical prizes:
Gipson's ashes were buried in Caldwell. He left his entire estate to Lehigh University, providing the core funding for the Gipson Institute
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