The Betty M. Unterberger Prize is intended to recognize and encourage distinguished research and writing by graduate students in the field of diplomatic history. The Prize of $1,000 is awarded biannually (in odd years) to the author of a dissertation, completed during the previous two calendar years, on any topic in United States foreign relations history.
The Prize was established in 2004 to honor Betty Miller Unterberger, a founder of SHAFR and long-time professor of diplomatic history at Texas A&M University.
Awarded Biannually (Even Years) • $1,000
Oxford University Press USA Dissertation Prize
The Oxford University Press USA Dissertation Prize in International History recognizes the best dissertation writing by a rising historian who has completed a research project defined as international history. The Prize of $1,000 is awarded biannually (in even years) to the author of a dissertation completed during the previous two calendar years. For a dissertation to qualify, the research must be multinational in framing and scope, and there will be a preference for works that have a multilingual source base.
In endowing this prize, Oxford University Press hopes to recognize the stellar work of junior scholars and to highlight works that have not been the focus of area studies and other regional and national approaches. Winners will be invited to submit the resulting manuscript to Oxford University Press USA for a formal reading for possible publication.
Submission Procedures
A dissertation completed in 2025 to 2026 may be submitted for the 2027 Betty M. Unterberger Dissertation Prize by the author or the author's advisor.
Membership
Author must be an active member of SHAFR at the time of submission.
Submission
Please submit an electronic copy of the dissertation to the committee members.
Deadline
February 1, 2027
Dual Consideration: If you would like the dissertation to also be considered for the 2028 Oxford University Press USA Dissertation Prize in International History, please indicate this explicitly in your email submission.
2025Daniel Chardell, Harvard University, “The Gulf War: An International History, 1989–1991”
2023Samantha Payne, Harvard University, “The Last Atlantic Revolution: Reconstruction and the Struggle for Democracy in the Americas, 1861–1912”
2021Paul J. Welch Behringer, American University, “U.S. and Japanese Intervention in the Russian Civil War: Violence and ‘Barbarism’ in the Far East”
Oxford University Press Winners
2026Nathan Grau, Harvard University, “Brazzaville’s Diaspora: Colonial Development, Counterinsurgent Violence, and the Struggle for Self-Determination, 1941–1958”
2024Taylor Zajicek, Princeton University, "Black Sea, Cold War: An Environmental History of the Black Sea Region, 1930–2005”
2022Thomas Mead Jamison, Harvard University, “Pacific Wars: Peripheral Conflict and the Making of the U.S. ‘New Navy,’ 1865–1897”
2020Cindy Ewing, Yale University, “The Asian Unity Project: Human Rights, Third World Solidarity, and the United Nations, 1945–1955”
The 2010s
Betty M. Unterberger Winners
2019Jessica Levy, Johns Hopkins University, "Black Power, Inc.: Global American Business and the Post-Apartheid City"
2017Zach Fredman, Boston University, "From Allies to Occupiers: Living with the U.S. Military in Wartime China"
2015Mark Seddon, University of Sheffield, "British and US Intervention in the Venezuelan Oil Industry: A Case Study of Anglo-US Relations, 1941–1948"
2013Jacob S. Eder, University of Pennsylvania, "Holocaust Angst: The Federal Republic of Germany and Holocaust Memory in the United States, 1977–98"
2011Thomas Field, London School of Economics, "Conflict on High: The Bolivian Revolution and the United States, 1961–1964" Julia F. Irwin, Yale University, "Humanitarian Occupation: Foreign Relief and Assistance in the Formation of American International Identities, 1898–1928"
Oxford University Press Winners
2018Fritz Bartel, Cornell University, "The Triumph of Broken Promises: Oil, Finance, and the End of the Cold War"
2016Seth Anziska, Columbia University, "Camp David's Shadow: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Question, 1977–1993"
2014Tore C. Olsson, University of Georgia, "Agrarian Crossings: The American South, Mexico, and the Twentieth-Century Remaking of the Rural World"
2012Toshihiro Higuchi, Georgetown University, "Radioactive Fallout, the Politics of Risk, and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis, 1954–1963"
2010Paul Chamberlin, The Ohio State University, "Preparing for Dawn: The United States and the Global Politics of Palestinian Resistance, 1967–1975"
The 2000s
Betty M. Unterberger Winners
2009Gregory R. Domber, George Washington University, "Supporting the Revolution: America, Democracy, and the End of the Cold War in Poland, 1981–1989"
2007Jennifer Heckard, University of Connecticut, "The Crossroads of Empire: The 1817 Liberation and Occupation of Amelia Island, East Florida"
2005Jonathan Winkler, Yale University, "Wiring the World : U.S. Foreign Policy and Global Strategic Communications, 1914–1921"
