John Shy Explained

John Shy
Birth Date:	23 March 1931
Birth Place:	Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:	Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation:	Historian
Known For:	Military history
Notable Works:	Toward Lexington (1965)

John Willard Shy (March 23, 1931 – April 8, 2022) was a military historian and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan.^{[1] [2]} Shy was part of a group of military historians who examined the interplay of the military, politics, and society in the colonial and revolutionary periods of American history.^[3]

Education

Born in Ohio, Shy attended the United States Military Academy, graduating with a B.S. degree in the class of 1952.^[1] He received his M.A. degree in history from the University of Vermont in 1957.^[1] Shy graduated with his Ph.D. degree in history from Princeton University in 1961.^[1] His doctoral thesis was entitled The British army in North America, 1760-1775.^[4]

Career

Shy was commissioned as a United States Army officer in 1952 and served on active duty until 1955. He transitioned to the Army Reserve and ultimately attained the rank of captain.^[5]

Shy became an associate professor at Princeton in 1959, an associate professor at Michigan in 1968 and a full professor there in 1971. He was a visiting professor at the United States Army War College from 1974 to 1975.^[6]

Shy specialized in the American Colonial and Revolutionary periods.^[1]

The University of Michigan presented him with the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1994.^[7]

Shy received the Morison Prize from the Society for Military History in 2002.^[8]

Shy gave the 2008 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History.^[9]

Shy lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan after his retirement and died in 2022.^[10]

Selected works

• Paret, Peter, and John W. Shy. Guerrillas in the 1960s. New York: Published for the Center of International Studies, Princeton University, by Praeger, 1962.
• Shy, John W. Toward Lexington; The Role of the British Army in the Coming of the American Revolution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965.
• Shy, John W. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
• Gilbert, Benjamin, and John W. Shy. Winding Down: The Revolutionary War Letters of Lieutenant Benjamin Gilbert of Massachusetts, 1780–1783: From His Original Manuscript Letterbook in the William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan. [Ann Arbor]: University of Michigan Press, 1989.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Memoir - Faculty History Project. www.lib.umich.edu.
2. http://www.miwsr.com/2008/downloads/20081202.pdf
3. Spector . Robert . Military History and the Academic World . Army History . 1991 . 19 . 19 . 7 . 26302864 .
4. The British army in North America, 1760-1775 . John Willard . Shy . 1961 . Princeton University . 2022-05-13.
5. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=cNeqibq2y1EC&pg=PA627 . Class of 1952—Register of Graduates . Register of Graduates and Former Cadets 1802–1971 of the United States Military Academy . 1971 . 627 . The West Point Alumni Foundation Inc . 2022-05-13.
6. Book: Register of Graduates and Former Cadets, United States Military Academy . 1989 . 556 . Association of Graduates U.S.M.A. . West Point, New York . 2022-05-13.
7. Web site: FACULTY AWARDS John Shy, Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award. ur.umich.edu.
8. Web site: Morison Prize. The Society for Military History.
9. Web site: Vol. 72 No. 4. The Society for Military History.
10. Web site: John W. Shy . Muehlig Funeral Chapel . Ann Arbor, Michigan . 2022-05-13.