Born in Boston , and educated at Boston Latin School , Perkins received his A.B. ( 1909 ) and PhD ( 1914 ) from Harvard University , where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa . In his doctoral studies , Archibald Cary Coolidge was a formative influence . Perkins ' first job was at the University of Cincinnati , where he taught ancient history , British history , and international law in 1914-1915 . The following year he took a position at the University of Rochester . Perkins was drafted in World War I , and entered service in June 1918 . He joined the 87th Division , and shortly after it arrived in France he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and sent to Chaumont , where the American Expeditionary Force had its headquarters . Perkins was assigned to the historical section , where he found a former teacher of his from Harvard and others whom he had known from Harvard . Upon his return to civilian life in July 1919 , Perkins resumed his appointment at the University of Rochester , where he remained on the faculty until 1953 . In 1925 he became chair of the history department . From 1928 to 1932 , Perkins was secretary to the American Historical Association , succeeded by Conyers Read . In 1945 he was the first to hold Cambridge University ’s Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions . Dr. Perkins was also the John L. Senior Professor of American Civilization at Cornell University from 1954 to 1959 . He was a former visiting professor at the University of London and Cambridge University . Perkins was the official U.S. historian at the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco that preceded the organization of the United Nations . From 1950-1951 , he served as the first president of the Salzburg Global Seminar , a non-profit organization based in Salzburg , Austria whose mission is to challenge current and future leaders to develop creative ideas for solving global problems . As president of the American Historical Association in 1956 , he delivered an address that emphasized the importance of teaching alongside scholarly research at universities . His son Bradford was a notable historian in his own right
United Nations Conference on International Organization
United Nations Conference on International Organization
Dexter Perkins