QU history professor to present first Aaron Pembleton lecture Thursday

QUINCY — Justin Coffey, Quincy University’s Father Aaron Pembleton Endowed Chair in History, will present the first Aaron Pembleton Lecture titled “Nixon: A New Look at His Legacy,” at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Connie Niemann Center for Music, 1700 Seminary Road. Coffey will discuss his current project, a biography of President Richard M. Nixon. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Coffey, a professor of history, has been a QU faculty member since 2007. He earned a doctoral degree in history from the University of Illinois-Chicago, specializing in United States history since 1877. He also holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Wyoming and a bachelor’s degree in history from Fordham University in New York.

He has authored numerous scholarly articles, as well as the book “Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right.” Coffey is a frequent expert political commentator for local news media in Quincy, Ill.