Jay Winik

Appointed By: George W. Bush
Date of Appointment: Wed, 2006-11-15
Term Expiration: Thu, 2012-01-26

Jay Winik is one of the nation's leading public historians. Mr. Winik’s many writings include the award-winning New York Times best-seller April 1865: The Month that Saved America, which is now part of the distinguished “Modern Classic” series and was the basis for an Emmy-nominated History Channel special, as well as a two-person play at Ford’s Theater that he wrote and starred in; his most recent book, The Great Upheaval, was also a New York Times bestseller and both a USA Today and Financial Times best book of the year. He is a regular reviewer of history for the Wall Street Journal, a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review section, and provides historical commentary to such major network and cable shows from PBS to ABC to Fox news as well as many documentary specials. An elected Fellow of the Society of American Historians, he currently serves on boards and advisory councils for the the American Heritage Magazine, Civil War Preservation Trust, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the James Madison Book Award, Ford’s Theatre, and The Lincoln Forum. He is also currently advising the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and was recently a juror for the George Washington Book Prize. Mr. Winik received a B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. (Term expires January 26, 2012.)