Philip Beidler

Philip D. Beidler is a professor of American literature at the University of Alabama, and the author and editor of books on Alabama literature, the Vietnam War, and other topics. For his work on Vietnam writers, he has been called "one of the founding fathers of Vietnam War studies."

Biography
Beidler, who is of German and Quaker descent, did his undergraduate at Davidson College, then served as a lieutenant in an armored cavalry platoon in Vietnam. He received Master's and Doctoral degrees in English from the University of Virginia. He became a professor at Alabama in the early 1970s, served as director of graduate studies and as assistant dean, and was awarded the 1999 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.