$30,000 Grant Awarded in Support of Armies of Peace: The United Nations, NATO, and the Korean War

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Truman Library Institute proudly announces that it has awarded the 2022 Scholar’s Award to Ian Ona Johnson, P. J. Moran Family Assistant Professor of Military History at the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Johnson’s academic research focuses on the origins and conduct of war, as well as the maintenance of peace, and the $30,000 Scholar’s Award was made in support of his forthcoming book, Armies of Peace: The United Nations, NATO, and the Korean War.

The 2022 awardee’s first monograph, Faustian Bargain: The Soviet-German Partnership and the Origins of the Second World War, was published by Oxford University Press in June 2021 and has been hailed as “a revelation and a triumph…an essential read for everyone interested in the period.” Johnson also has edited the memoirs of a Russian veteran and revolutionary for publication, The White Nights: Pages from a Russian Doctor’s Notebook.

The prestigious Scholar’s Award is given biennially by the Truman Library Institute to a post-doctoral scholar engaged in work focused on the life and career of Harry S. Truman or on the public and foreign policy issues which were prominent during the Truman years. Grants of $30,000 are awarded with the intention to free a scholar from teaching or other employment to allow for progress on the writing of a major book.

“The Truman Library Institute’s Grants Committee was very impressed with Dr. Johnson’s project,” said Dr. Kari Frederickson, professor of history at the University of Alabama and chair of the Truman Library Institute’s Grants Committee. “From a very competitive field of entries, Ian Ona Johnson stood out as a ‘leading young historian of his generation,’ and we are thrilled to support the completion of what will certainly be an essential addition to our understanding of conflict, peace and Truman-era Cold War policies.”

“The Scholar’s Award is an immense honor,” Dr. Johnson said. “I am flattered by the Committee’s decision and excited to get back to the Truman Library at the first opportunity.”

Since it first opened in 1959, the Research Room at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum has welcomed nearly 15,000 historians, writers and scholars, representing more than 40 nations. From the beginning, the Truman Library Institute has provided grants-in-aid for researchers; the total granted now stands at more than $3.3 million. Today, research grants, awards and fellowships provide assistance to emerging and established scholars whose contributions illuminate the critical issues of Truman’s presidency and legacy.

The Truman Library Institute is the donor- and member-supported, nonprofit partner of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, one of 15 presidential libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration. The Truman Library Institute draws on President Truman’s legacy to enrich public understanding of history, the presidency, and America’s unique form of government. This mission is achieved through the development and funding of world-class museum exhibits, a robust international research grant program, public forums, and nationally acclaimed education programs serving more than 50,000 students and teachers each year.

CONTACT:
Susan Medler, Director of Communications
816.400.1217  susan.medler@trumanlibraryinstitute.org