Jamie Cockfield

Jamie H. Cockfield (Grad ’72) retired on June 30 after serving 45 years in the history department of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, including three terms as chair. He occupied the Willis Borders Glover Chair of History for 20 years. He published several books during his tenure, including Dollars and Diplomacy (Duke 1981), With Snow on their Boots (St. Martins 1998), White Crow (Praeger 2005) and Black Lebeda (Mercer University Press 2010). Since his retirement, he has signed with publishers for two additional book contracts, one, for a biography of U.S. Senator Walter F. George of Georgia, the other, for a biography of the World War I Russian general A.A. Brusilov. Both are to appear next year. After Mr. Cockfield spearheaded the move to obtain a posthumous commission in the U.S. Air Force for Eugene Bullard, America’s first African-American military aviator, who was denied one during World War I, he appeared in a documentary that aired on French television and received a hand-written note of thanks from General Colin Powell. In the Mercer faculty, he has been elected to a number of offices including the University House of Delegates and faculty representative on the board of trustees. In the community, he served on the boards of the Macon Symphony, in which he played the violin, and the Macon Concert Association. He chaired the Macon Council on World Affairs, the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections and the Bibb County Republican Party. He also served on the Georgia State Republican Party’s Central Committee. His support of the UVA Nursing School has gained him admission to the Compass Society, the Rotunda Society and the Dean’s Circle.