Paul S. Lietz Award for Outstanding Historical Scholarship
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The Paul S. Lietz Award for Outstanding Historical Scholarship is the history department's highest honor. Chosen by the history department faculty, the award is given to a graduating senior based on the merit of the student’s scholarly work. The Lietz Award winner receives a $500 prize. |
Professor Paul S. Lietz (1906-1987) began teaching at Loyola in 1940, the year he completed his doctoral dissertation on "Don Vasco de Quiroga and the Second Audiencia of New Spain" and received his Ph.D. degree from the university. He had received his bachelor`s degree in history from Loyola in 1929 and his master`s degree in 1935 after completing his M.A. thesis on "Chicago in 1870." He was named chairman of the History Department in 1953, a position he held 17 years. He retired in 1976, becoming Professor Emeritus.
Prof. Lietz also was a member of Loyola`s athletic board and once coached its tennis team. Before he began his career at Loyola University, he had taught at Loyola Academy almost 10 years.
"His life was synonymous with Loyola from 1940 to 1980," said Professor Richard Matre, provost of Loyola`s Medical Center and a former History professor with Prof. Leitz in the 1950s and 1960s.
Born in Mexico City where his father, an engineer, was helping build the Mexican Railroad System, Prof. Lietz was a recognized authority on Latin American history and Hispanic affairs. He wrote many scholarly journal articles and books and was a Fulbright lecturer in Cuba. In the summers of 1947 and 1950, he was sent to South America and Cuba by the State Department to serve as a visiting professor of U.S. history. He also was a member of the American Historical Society, the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and a research fellow at the Newberry Library.
Paul S. Lietz Award Recipients
| 2023 | Kaitlyn Bartels |
| 2022 | Lily Cate Gunther-Canada |
| 2021 | Emily Van Cleave |
| 2020 | Kathleen Koehnke |
| 2019 | Bradley MacDonald |
| 2018 | Thomas George |
| 2017 | Alexa Lindsley |
| 2016 | Kyle Jenkins |
| 2015 | Megan Meagher |
| 2014 | Daniel Ziemniak |
| 2013 | Charles Heinrich |
| 2012 | Charis Caputo |
| 2011 | Lauren Cannizzaro |
| 2010 | Kevin Mack |
| 2009 | Krystle Reniguntala |
| 2008 | Brendan Daley |
| 2007 | David Pfeiffer |
| 2006 | Dermot W. Lynch |
| 2005 | Charles S. Higgins |
| 2004 | Kathryn M. Wilmot |
| 2003 | Christopher M. Gilbert |
| 2002 | Lisa M. Tyminski |
| 2001 | Meredith P. Murphy |
| 2000 | William F. Ferguson |
| 1999 | Timothy J. Lynch |
| 1998 | Eugene Polissky |
| 1997 | Matthew K. Impola |
| 1996 | Trevor D. Jones |
| 1995 | Paul B. Wesemann |
| 1994 | Paul M. F. Stark |
| 1993 | Mario D'Amato |
| 1992 | Kara E. Stibora |
| 1991 | Anthony P. Diaz |
| 1990 | Lana M. Kubiatowski |
| 1989 | Paul J. Keller |
| 1988 | Amy E. Correll |
| 1987 | Helena M. Ledic |
| 1986 | Christopher D. Liesen |
| 1985 | Linas Smulkstys |
| 1984 | Chris J. Chulos |
| 1983 | Joan T. Batchen |
| 1982 | Mark Walker |
| 1981 | Ann Minciotti Helen Minciotti (shared) |
| 1980 | Howard Lieber Gilbert A. Webb (shared) |
| 1979 | David R. Geocaris |
| 1978 | Deborah Rybka |
| 1976 | Samuel Batsell |
| 1975 | Robert J. McHugh |
