Patty Limerick is the Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, where she is also a Professor of History. Limerick has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between academics and the general public and to demonstrating the benefits of applying historical perspective to contemporary dilemmas and conflicts. Limerick is also known as an energetic, funny, and engaging public speaker, sought after by a wide range of Western constituencies that include private industry groups, state and federal agencies, and grassroots organizations.
On August 1, 2020 Governor听听appointed Patty to the听. This board, together with the听听(USBGN) will play an important role in Colorado鈥檚 historic effort to rethink some of the current names of state landmarks. In January 2016 she was appointed the Colorado State Historian and served until August 2018.听 Also in January 2016, she was appointed to the听听advisory board, the National Council on the Humanities. Patty was nominated by President Obama in Spring 2015, was confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2015, and served until October 2019.
Limerick was born and raised in Banning, California, and graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1972. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University in 1980, and from 1980 to 1984 she was an Assistant Professor of History at Harvard. In 1984, Limerick moved to Boulder to join the听History Department of the University of Colorado, where she was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 1987 and to Full Professor in 1991. In 1985 she published听Desert Passages, followed in 1987 by her best-known work,听The Legacy of Conquest,听an overview and reinterpretation of Western American history that has stirred up a great deal of both academic and public debate. In 2012 she published听, a history of water in Denver. Limerick is also a prolific essayist, and many of her most notable articles, including 鈥淒ancing with Professors: The Trouble with Academic Prose,鈥� were collected in 2000 under the title听Something in the Soil.
Limerick has received a number of awards and honors recognizing the impact of her scholarship and her commitment to teaching, including the听听(1995 to 2000) and the听Hazel Barnes Prize, the University of Colorado鈥檚 highest award for teaching and research (2001). She has served as president of several professional organizations, advised documentary and film projects, and done two tours as a Pulitzer Nonfiction jurist, as well as chairing the 2011 Pulitzer jury in History. She regularly engages the public on the op-ed pages of local and national newspapers, including serving as a guest columnist for听The New York Times听in the summer of 2005. She currently writes a monthly column for听The Denver Post.
Limerick has served as President of the听听听, the听, and the听, and as the Vice President of the Teaching Division of the听, where she co-wrote a successful proposal to the Lumina Foundation, on 鈥渢uning鈥� (as in tuning up an orchestra) the historical profession鈥檚 teaching efforts.
In 1986, Limerick and CU Law Professor听听founded the Center of the American West, and since 1995 it has been her primary point of affiliation. During her tenure, the Center has published a number of books, including the influential听(1997), and a series of lively, balanced, and to-the-point reports on compelling Western issues, including听听(2003),听听(2006), and听听(2007). The Center鈥檚 film,听The Lover鈥檚 Guide to the West, offering counseling to the American public on its 鈥渢roubled relationship with fossil fuels,鈥� debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS in April 2010. Limerick and Center staff are currently working on several projects, including a book about the role of the Department of Interior in the West, based on the 鈥淚nside Interior鈥� series of interviews hosted by the Center between 2004 and 2006. Under her leadership, the Center of the American West serves as a forum committed to the civil, respectful, problem-solving exploration of important, often contentious, public issues. In an era of political polarization and contention, the Center strives to bring out 鈥渢he better angels of our nature鈥� by appealing to our common loyalties and hopes as Westerners.