William cronon is one of the most distinguished and influential contemporary environmental historians, receiving numerous honors for both his research and teaching. He is currently the Vilas Research Chair and the Frederick Jackson Turner Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Born September 11, 1954, in New Haven, Connecticut, William Cronon received his B.A. (1976) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He [Page 382]holds an M.A. (1979), M. Phil. (1980), and Ph.D. (1990) from Yale, and a D. Phil. (1981) from Oxford University. Cronon's earliest book, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England (1984) documented the differences in ecological practices between Native Americans and European settlers. Contrary to common perceptions at the time, he argued that ...