B W Aston

B.W. Aston (April 27, 1936 – March 25, 2010) was an American historian whose career embraced local and regional history as well as Latin American studies. From 1967 to 2001, he was a faculty member at Baptist-affiliated Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.

Aston was born in Fort Worth to Ernest Roy Aston and Mural Aston (1905–1979). He graduated from Technical High School in Fort Worth and enrolled briefly at Arlington Junior College in Arlington, Texas, now part of Tarrant County College. He served in the United States Air Force from 1955-58. He entered Texas Tech University in Lubbock, from which he received the Bachelor of Science (1962) in education and Master of Arts (1964) and Ph.D. (1972) in the field of history.

He was the chairman of the Hardin-Simmons History Department from 1972-92, dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 2000 to 2001, director of the evening college (1972–78), supervisor of the Abilene Photographic Collection (1980–2001), and head of the Rupert Richardson Research Center from 1981 to 2001. A vice president and then president of the faculty, he was named "Faculty Member of the Year" in 1989. He took three periods of sabbatical leave, having conducted research in the Dominican Republic (1984) and Belfast, Northern Ireland (2000). In 1993, he taught at Massey University in New Zealand.

Aston was affiliated with the Texas Folklore Society in Nacogdoches, the National Popular Culture Society, and the Southwest Council of Latin American Studies, the latter from 1973 until his death. He was also active in the West Texas Historical Association, having served as its secretary-treasurer (1972–98), associate Year Book editor (1976–98), executive director (1992–98), and life director (1999 until his death).