A Fort Worth native, Endress earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Vanderbilt University in 1961 and a master’s degree at Tulane University. He then joined the Army and taught four years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point while completing his doctorate at Tulane.
“When I left the Army, ASU had the best-paid assistant professors in the country,” Endress said, “and that, combined with my Texas roots, made the choice easy. A lot of faculty came to the university in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and we just stayed. I taught together with eight of my colleagues in the History Department for over 30 years. It made for a very close and congenial department.”
Endress taught at ASU from 1969-2009, serving as head of the History Department from 1973-99 and 2000-04 and briefly as interim dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts on two occasions. In 1986, he was named a Piper Professor, one of 10 outstanding faculty chosen annually in Texas. He also remained in the Army Reserve, retiring as a colonel in 1992, and currently volunteers in ASU’s West Texas Collection, sorting and filing historical papers.
For his notable career and his continued support of ASU, the ASU Alumni Association has named Endress its 2014 Outstanding Retired Faculty.
“Classroom teaching was what I really enjoyed and always looked forward to,” Endress said. “Toward the end, I did get really tired of grading papers, but I never tired of teaching, and that is what I miss the most.”
Fittingly, Endress has also previously been designated a Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at ASU.
-
Tom Nurre
Tom Nurre is a news and information specialist at Angelo State University.
Email Tom at tom.nurre@angelo.edu.
