Dr. H. Micheal Tarver, professor emeritus of history at Arkansas Tech University, is co-editor of a book that has captured the bronze medal in the best reference book category of the 2026 International Latino Book Awards.
Tarver and Carlos E. Márquez Petit collaborated on “South America: From European Contact to Independence,” a two-volume work that covers approximately 500 years of South American history, geography and culture. It was published by Bloomsbury Academic in March 2025.
The announcement of the bronze medal was made during the 28th International Latino Book Awards ceremony, which took place on Oct. 3 at the California State University-San Marcos Ballroom.
Tarver joined the ATU faculty in 2002 and retired in 2023. Head of the ATU Department of History and Political Science from 2002-09 and dean of the ATU College of Arts and Humanities from 2010-13, Tarver engaged in full-time classroom teaching over the final decade of his service to Arkansas Tech. He served as the self-study coordinator for the university’s 2010-20 re-accreditation process and as a member of the ATU 2025 Strategic Plan writing team.
Recipient of the J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of State during the 1998-99 academic year, Tarver was recognized with the Fulbright Alumni Initiative Award from the U.S. Department of State in 2001, the Fellowship Award from the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History in 2001, the Special Humanities Award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 2002, the Faculty Award of Excellence in the scholarship category from ATU in 2007 and the Fulbright-Hayes Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 2008.
In 2023, Tarver received membership in the Venezuelan National Academy of History as a corresponding member. He has served as editor-in-chief of the World History Association’s World History Bulletin and as chairman of the Arkansas History Commission.
