Brian VanDeMark

Brian VanDeMark, an academic rooted in the field of history, has been teaching at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis since 1990. VanDeMark also carries a significant reputation as an author, having published several books on American history.

VanDeMark published "Pandora's Keepers: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb," delving into the creation of the atomic bomb and its aftermath. He explored America's influence in the Middle East with "American Sheikhs: Two Families, Four Generations, and the Story of America's Influence in the Middle East." His body of work, combined with his teaching role, underlines his commitment to educating future leaders about the importance of historical knowledge in shaping decision-making and understanding the complexities of leadership.

His debut work, "Into the Quagmire: Lyndon Johnson and the Escalation of the Vietnam War" was published in 1991, providing an exhaustive study of the Vietnam War. He co-authored Robert McNamara's memoir "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam," a work that later became the foundation for the documentary film "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara." He returned to the subject of Vietnam in 2018 with the publication of "Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent Into Vietnam."

VanDeMark's academic journey began with a B.A. in 1981 and an M.A. in 1983 from the University of Texas, Austin, followed by a Ph.D. from UCLA in 1988. These academic qualifications laid the foundation for VanDeMark's career, during which he has also served in prestigious roles such as the Freeman Professor of American History at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing China in 1999-2000, and as a Visiting Fellow at St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford in 2002.

He received his doctorate in history from University of California, Los Angeles.