Thomas M. Hatfield, PhD

Dr. Thomas M. Hatfield is a distinguished American historian and the Director of the Military History Institute at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Dedicated to deepening public appreciation of America’s military heritage, he shares expertise through insightful lectures and publications while actively expanding the Center’s archives with rare memorabilia, photographs, and oral histories.His scholarly expertise is informed by firsthand military experience, having served in the Texas National Guard as a youth and later as a captain in military intelligence for the U.S. Army Reserve.

 

A lifelong pursuer of historical insight, Dr. Hatfield has traveled extensively to the scenes of pivotal global events. He has traced major campaigns of the Second World War across Western Europe, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and into the heart of Germany. In the Pacific, he has walked the beaches of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Peleliu, and explored the sunken Japanese fleet in Truk Lagoon.

 

For over thirty years, his teaching has illuminated the strategic and diplomatic complexities of wartime. As a leader in international education and a founding faculty member of the Normandy Scholar Program at UT Austin, he has guided students and adults to significant global sites. His work has been featured on the History Channel, Discovery, and PBS, and his publications include the acclaimed biography Rudder: From Leader to Legend and Normandy Adventure: My Search for Tommy Rouse.

 

He serves as Dean Emeritus of Continuing Education at UT Austin and was the founding president of Austin Community College. His ongoing projects and tours continue to sustain the Military History Institute and the Briscoe Center. A native of Medina, Texas, and raised in San Antonio, he holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Austin with his wife, Carol.