EIU Department of History

The Barry D. Riccio Memorial Lecture Series

Beginning with our inaugural lecture in 2003, the generosity of fund donors has allowed us to bring many of the leading lights of American intellectual history to Eastern Illinois University.

In conjunction with the EIU History Department, the fund sponsors a lecture series with an emphasis on the history of ideas

Barry D. Riccio joined the Eastern Illinois University History faculty in 1995. The author of Walter Lippmann, Odyssey of a Liberal (1994) and numerous articles, Barry was a devoted student of American ideas, politics, and culture. At Eastern he proved almost immediately himself an outstanding teacher and wonderful colleague. Following Barry's death from cancer in 2001 at the age of 46, his friends, family and colleagues established the Barry D. Riccio History Fund in his honor.

Fall 2026 Riccio Lecture

Past Riccio Lectures:

• 2003 James B. Gilbert, University of Maryland at College Park
• 2004 Martin Marty, University of Chicago
• 2005 John Bodnar, Indiana University
• 2007 Thomas Bender, New York University
• 2008 Donald Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historical Office
• 2010 Beryl Satter, Rutgers University
• 2011 Robert Johnston, University of Illinois-Chicago
• 2012 H. W. Brands, University of Texas Austin
• 2013 Donald Spivey, Miami University
• 2014 James T. Sparrow, University of Chicago
• 2017 Michelle Nickerson, History Professor
• 2019 Gaines M. Foster, Louisiana State University
• 2023 (Spring) Mikah Makalani, Johns Hopkins University
• 2023 (Fall) Timothy Shenk, George Washington University