Graduate student Tim Landry has contributed to the University of 棉花糖直播 at Lafayette鈥檚 scholarship of Jefferson Caffery, who served as U.S. ambassador from 1926 to 1955.
Landry earned the annual Jefferson Caffery Research Award earlier this year. It is given to an undergraduate or graduate UL Lafayette student, based on papers about the diplomat that are submitted for a competition conducted by Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library on campus.
The contest, which includes a $500 prize, is held to encourage students to conduct scholarly research using materials in Special Collections. Entries are judged by a panel composed of members of the library committee, library staff members and others designated by the panel, based on quality of research, clarity and writing skill.
Landry is pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in history. His winning paper is titled 鈥淐onservative Aristocrat and Assertive Ambassador: Jefferson Caffery at the Headwaters of American Involvement in Vietnam, 1944-1947.鈥
鈥淗e played what I felt was a pivotal role in what became U.S. involvement in Vietnam when he became U.S. ambassador to France,鈥 Landry explained.
History has been a lifelong passion for Landry, 56. He鈥檚 on track to earn a master鈥檚 degree this year, and plans to pursue a doctoral degree. He then wants to teach at a university.
鈥淧eople have told me over the years I sound like a history professor. My goal is to become one,鈥 said Landry, who spent 15 years as an ordained minister and 20 years in business management.
His primary research interests center on American political history in the 20th century. Caffery falls right into that slot, Landry added.
The ambassador was a member of the University鈥檚 first graduating class in 1903. His career in international diplomacy began in 1911 when he entered the Foreign Service during President William Howard Taft鈥檚 presidency. Caffery ultimately served under Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. He was ambassador to El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, France and Egypt.
Caffery died in 1974; he was 87. The award is supported by a fund established in 1967 by Caffery and his wife, Gertrude Caffery.
For more information about Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library, visit .
Shown from left, are Dr. Bruce Turner, assistant dean of Special Collections, and graduate student Tim Landry. A portrait of U.S. Ambassador Caffery is in the background.