William Gienapp

William Gienapp (died 2003, age 59) was an American historian, noted for his writing on the period of the American Civil War. His widely-acclaimed The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856 (1987) is still considered one of the most important books every written on 19th-century American politics. During his long tenure at Harvard, he acquired a reputation as a beloved teacher and devoted mentor of graduate students.

Gienapp held a B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied under Kenneth Stampp, and an M.A. from Yale University. Prior to joining the Harvard Department of History in 1989, he had worked on the faculty of the University of Wyoming since 1980. He became a visiting associate professor at Harvard in 1988 before formally joining the faculty the following year.

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