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DELAWARE, Ohio – Ezra F. Vogel is considered one of the world’s leading scholars of East Asia and his book “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China” has been praised as a “masterful new history of China’s reform era.”
A retired Harvard University professor, Ohio Wesleyan University graduate, and Delaware native, Vogel will discuss his journey from “From Delaware to Deng Xiaoping” when he speaks at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at his alma mater. Vogel’s presentation will be held in Benes Room B of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. The event is free and open to the public.
A sociology major at Ohio Wesleyan, Vogel, Ph.D., is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard and the former director of Harvard’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research and the Asia Center. From 1993 to 1995, he served as the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council in Washington, D.C.
His 928-page book “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China” examines the impact of Xiaoping, leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to 1992. The book was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize, and a Best Book of the Year in the Economist, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. It also was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a Gates Notes Top Read.
His latest book, released in July, is “China and Japan: Facing History,” which explores key touchstones in the long history between China and Japan and argues that for the sake of world stability they must forge a new relationship for the 21st century.
Just as Vogel’s ties to East Asia are strong, so are his connections to Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan, where the 1950 OWU alumnus has created permanent endowments to support students engaged in international study and to establish the Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture Series in honor of his parents.
Vogel’s Sept. 30 talk will be Ohio Wesleyan’s 36th annual Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture, sponsored by the OWU Department of History. His presentation also is part of the university’s 2019-2020 Sagan National Colloquium, titled “OWU: Our World Needs You.” Learn more at www.owu.edu/history and www.owu.edu/snc.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 25 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.