UIS professor Matthew Holden, Jr. recognized by the United States Congress

Matthew Holden, Jr., the Wepner Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Illinois Springfield, was recently honored by Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who entered Holden’s extensive biography into the Congressional Record.

“I am gratified,” said Holden. “It will serve, one fervently hopes, to disseminate understanding of, and encourage interest in, the Abraham Lincoln Association and the Wepner Symposium on the Lincoln Legacy and Contemporary Scholarship.”

Thompson became aware of Holden’s accomplishments from “For the People”, the Abraham Lincoln Association newsletter, which featured Holden’s biography. Holden serves on the board of directors for the Springfield-based association, which aims to educate the public about the 16th president and encourage public study of Lincoln-related history.

Holden, who joined UIS in 2009, is also the organizer of the Wepner Symposium at UIS, which brings together political scientists, historians, sociologists and scholars in other disciplines around the world to examine the Lincoln legacy. The Wepner Symposium is also designed to include K-12 teachers and is open to the general public without cost.

The third Wepner Symposium is scheduled for October 19-20, 2012. This year’s symposium will examine what happened to make the emancipation of enslaved persons into a serious issue, Lincoln’s leadership and decision-making as president in the emancipation process, and emancipation issues regarding race and gender in the United States and internationally since the Civil War.

Holden is a Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Virginia, from which he retired in 2002. He has also taught at Wayne State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison after a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years. He was also the Newman Visiting Professor of American Civilization at Cornell University from 1995-96.

He is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, and books, and served as president of the American Political Science Association in 1998-99. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is nationally and internationally recognized for work on public policy, public administration, politics and law, urban politics and racial and ethnic relations.

Holden’s public service has included Presidential appointments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the President’s Air Quality Advisory Board, two Department level advisory committees on energy, and a gubernatorial appointment to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University.

To view Holden’s full biography, as read into the Congressional Record, visit http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2012-06-06/pdf/CREC-2012-06-06-pt1-PgE999.pdf.