Herbert Gambrell

Herbert Pickens Gambrell (July 15, 1898 - December 30, 1982) was an American historian known for his writing on Texas history, as well as his central roles in the Texas Centennial Exposition, Texas Institute of Letters, Texas State Historical Association, Dallas Historical Society, ''Southwest Review'', and Southern Methodist University Press. He was a professor at Southern Methodist University, where he chaired the history department from 1947 to 1964. A colleague would later remember that Gambrell, a popular and influential member of the faculty, was "the chief Wag and Wise Man of SMU for many years."

During Gambrell's lifetime, his books—particularly his bestselling 1948 biography of former Texas president Anson Jones—found a broad readership. For his work on the French role in Texas history, he was made an ''Officier d'Académie.'' In 1982, he was awarded an honorary degree by SMU for being "an indispensable leader in the institution's strivings to achieve its lofty ideals of academic excellence and scholarly accomplishment," as well as "the dean of Texas historians of his generation." Provided by Wikipedia