Amassing six decades of professional excellence in history education, Keith A. Hitchins, Ph.D., is a venerated and prolific figure in his industry who has been serving as an associate professor of history and professor of Eastern European history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1967 and 1969, respectively. Prior to this illustrious role, he acted as an assistant professor of history at Rice University from 1965 to 1967 and an instructor and assistant professor of history at Wake Forest University from 1958 to 1965.
Alongside his primary endeavors, Dr. Hitchins was formerly a lecturer at the University of Bucharest in 2015 and was a consultant for the joint committee on Eastern Europe with the American Council of Learned Societies and Social Science Research Council from 1982 to 1989. He further held the role of consultant for the Council for International Exchange Scholars from 1970 to 1979. Notably, he is an honorary member of the Romanian Academy.
Dr. Hitchins prepared for his career by pursuing formal education at Union College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1952. He subsequently attended Harvard University, earning a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in 1953 and 1964, respectively. Throughout his respected career, he has earned eight honorary doctorates from such prestigious academic institutions as the University of Bucharest, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, the West University of Timisoara, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Targu Mures, and Babes-Bolyai University, all located in Romania.
While pursuing his undergraduate and graduate degrees, Dr. Hitchins developed an interest in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Concentrating on Soviet and Russian history, he had the opportunity to travel to Romania to perform research for his dissertation, which he considers to be the highlight of his career. Since then, he garnered an intense passion for Romanian history, which laid the foundation for the rest of his career.
As a testament to his professional success, Dr. Hitchins received the National Order for Merit from the President of Romania in 2000 and 2016. Likewise, he was selected for inclusion in the 58th through 60th editions of Who’s Who in America.
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