The History Community lost a great man yesterday. Dr. Jerry Bentley passed away yesterday at the age of 63.
Dr. Bentley had served as the president of the World History Association and he was the editor of the World History journal. He was a professor at the University of Hawaii and a legend among world historians. His work on global history was groundbreaking.
For the past seven years my classes have used the college level textbook he co-authored. It is widely considered the best textbook in the field of world history. Dr. Bentley was also a grader/table leader for the AP World History exam. That's where I was honored to meet him several times. He was always gracious and humble despite his status as one of our great historians. He never minded people coming up to him and talking with him at lunch or dinner during the AP readings. He was even willing to take his picture with me a couple of different times.
At the beginning of this past reading at Salt Lake it was announced that Dr. Bentley was in bad health and his situation was dire. We were given no other details and I just assumed that he would pull through whatever it was. After all, he was only in his early sixties and I saw him every year playing tennis in the evenings.
So I was stunned to hear the news today of his passing. He was a great man who lived a full life. He will be missed.
Rest in Peace Dr. Bentley.
photo: Me and Jerry Bentley at last year's AP grading at Colorado State University...his last year to serve as a grader.
