Historian. Author. Filmmaker.

Kevin Waite is the Anne Stark Watson and Chester Watson Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Texas at Dallas. His first book, West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire (UNC Press), won the 2022 Wiley-Silver Prize from the Center for Civil War Research and was a finalist for three other book awards, including the Lincoln Prize. The Civil War Monitor named West of Slavery one of the “Five Best Books” ever written on the war in the Far West. His second book, The Boundless Biddy Mason: An Odyssey from Slavery to Freedom Across the American West, will be published by University of California Press in fall 2026.  Research for the book assisted in the campaign to rename Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles in honor of Mason.

Much of Waite’s work extends beyond the academy. His articles have appeared in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, National Geographic, Time, the New Republic, Slate, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He consults for the National Park Service to identify and preserve historic sites of interest in the American West, helping to register two new California sites in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. He also served on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s steering committee to help establish a memorial to the victims of the LA Chinese Massacre of 1871.

Waite also moonlights in TV and film. He wrote and produced the six-episode docuseries “1776: American Independence” for BBC Select and National Geographic. He also co-wrote the eight-episode docuseries, “Pirates: Behind the Legends” (National Geographic, Hulu), and was the lead historical consultant on the Emmy-nominated docuseries “Frontier” (National Geographic, Paramount+). He is currently writing and producing a documentary on the Underground Railroad of Southern California, which will be screened at two museums in Los Angeles. Waite is the founding director of The History Film Lab, a documentary production hub that connects UT Dallas students with paid opportunities on professional film and TV projects. 

Before coming to UTD, Waite taught for nine years at Durham University in the U.K., where he is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.  

Waite received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania; his master’s from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Herschel-Smith Fellow; and his BA (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Williams College.