Professor of History Emeritus
William D. Green was the M. Anita Gaye Hawthorne Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Professor of History at Augsburg University until 2022. Devoting his career to writing about race and Minnesota, he has published four books—A Peculiar Imbalance: The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Early Minnesota, Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits on Black Opportunity, and Nellie Francis: Fighting for Racial Justice and Women’s Equality in Minnesota.
Degrees of Freedom and The Children of Lincoln won the Hognander-Minnesota Book Awards in 2016 and 2020, respectively. He holds an MA, a PhD, and a JD from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. in History from Gustavus Adolphus College. He served as Superintendent of Minneapolis Schools and vice president of the executive council of the Minnesota Historical Society. He has published articles, op-ed pieces, and book chapters on history, law, and education, and has spoken widely at such places as the Ramsey County Bar Association; Friends of the Ramsey County Library; Unity Unitarian Universalist Church in St. Paul, and William Mitchell Law School. He has also lectured at Peabody College-Vanderbilt University, St. John’s University, and Lincoln College-Oxford University. While serving as Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, he studied school reform at Harvard University.
Education
- B.A. Gustavus Adolphus College
- M.A. University of Minnesota
- J.D. University of Minnesota
- Ph.D. University of Minnesota