Dr. A. Ray Stephens, Professor of History (retired) at the University of North Texas, won the Angie Debo Prize for his book, Texas: A Historical Atlas, from the Inasmuch Foundation of Oklahoma City in recognition of exceptional scholarship and writing on the history of the Southwest. After receiving the Ph.D. degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin, he taught at Texas A&M University and at the University of North Texas. In addition to his teaching duties in the Department of History at the University of North Texas, he was the director of the Texas History Institute. He served as the major professor for six doctoral dissertations and twenty-five master?s theses on Texas history and history of the American West.
Stephens is the author of the Historical Atlas of Texas (with William M. Holmes as cartographer), The Taft Ranch: A Texas Principality, Texas and the World: Connecting Events in Texas to the World, Handbook for the Research and Writing of Local Business History, and a number of book chapters and journal articles on Texas history. He has presented many papers at history conferences that dealt with his research in Texas history.
Stephens served as a member of the Executive Council of the Texas State Historical Association, president of the East Texas Historical Association, and on various committees of the Western History Association, Texas State Historical Association, and East Texas Historical Association. He is co-founder and co-editor of H-Texas, an online discussion group on Texas history and culture for H-Net.
In addition to serving on university committees and as an advisor to student organizations, Stephens was involved in civic activities. He believes that academic personnel should be an integral part of the community in which they live. He has held elective offices as a member of the Denton City Council and as the mayor of the City of Denton, and appointments to civic and municipal boards, commissions, and committees. Stephens was honored as the Elected Official of the Year by the Municipal Library Directors Association of the Texas Municipal League.
