Eminent historian Andrew Roberts will offer a course at Cornell this fall as the inaugural Merrill Visiting Professor in History. His lecture course, Great European Leaders of the 19th and 20th Centuries and their Influence on History, will investigate the roles of 12 influential figures, including Napoleon, Stalin, Churchill and Thatcher.

The visiting professorship is made possible by the Merrill family, who also support the annual Merrill Presidential Scholars Program and provided major funding for Cornell’s Merrill Family Sailing Center....