Introduction

When I nominated Herrick Chapman for the Nancy Lyman Roelker Mentorship Award, a recognition conferred by the American Historical Association upon an exemplary graduate mentor triennially, I collected some twenty letters from former students and colleagues. By the nature of the exercise, each letter was deeply personal. Students recounted the extra mile they felt Herrick had gone to personally help them navigate graduate student life and later the working world, whether in academia or beyond. Rereading these letters, one possible image that could emerge is of selfless generosity—after all, one student recalled how Herrick answered her panicked email on his own daughter's wedding day. I in turn recounted how he helped me pick up the pieces after the death of a parent. Other personal stories of this kind abound. He always was so attentive to his students as individuals.