Donation Makes History
A Philantropist Shares His Life's Love
John Lambert fell in love with history while working as a missionary in Los Angeles. He quickly discovered he was more interested in hearing where people came from and why they were there, than in talking about his own background and religious beliefs.
Erica Valle’s passion for history stemmed from a desperate attempt to know and understand her father, a Vietnam War veteran who died too soon to answer her questions.
Students like Lambert and Valle have captured the attention of the Nau Scholars program at UTSA, funded by Bobbie and John Nau. John Nau, president and CEO of Silver Eagle Distributors, L.P., is a history enthusiast who discovered his love of history when he was just 10 years old and taking his first trips to Springfield, Ill., to visit Abraham Lincoln’s home and tomb, and Fort Donelson National Battlefield, formerly Fort Donelson National Military Park, outside Nashville, Tenn.
“It was a combination of being fascinated with everything [related to] Lincoln and putting my feet on the battlefield,” he said. “That was where it all began for me.”
It was a pivotal moment, and it continues to influence Nau today. His interest in Civil War history and belief in the importance of learning from the past have led him and his wife, Bobbie, to commit $1 million to UTSA for undergraduate scholarships, graduate teaching assistantships and fellowships.
The Nau Scholars Program fund is making it possible for 14 students, including Lambert and Valle, to pursue their educational quests to understand the past.
“This is a game changer,” said history department chair Gregg Michel. “The amount of support is incredibly generous, but also it reaches across different constituencies. It affects and supports both graduates and undergraduate students, which from the same gift is unusual.”
Undergraduates like Lambert receive up to $10,000 each, while Valle and other graduate students receive up to $12,000. Teaching assistants are awarded a maximum of $16,000.
The one-year awards are designed to help students complete their undergraduate degrees, then transition to and complete graduate study.
“Simply put, the Nau Scholars Program Fund is transformative,” said Daniel Gelo, dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. “As a matter of student support, it brings the UTSA history department in line with other serious programs and lays a new groundwork for how we prepare our students to enter the nation’s top history doctoral programs. More basically, it is causing us to rethink how we teach history.”
QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE
If you want to know how the United States became the superpower it is today, the key is to look to history.
“We can learn about America’s values by understanding how those values were formed into who we are as a nation today,” Nau said.
Everything has a backstory and a reason, Lambert agrees. There are numerous invisible boundaries that make up the structure of the country today, and an understanding of where those boundaries came from and why they’re there can only be learned through history, he said.
“History explains or attempts to explain all the power structures that are in place,” he said. “That invisible ceiling, those invisible walls, those invisible bars; there’s a long process that has put all those boundaries in effect.
“History teaches us two things: one, that there is a cause, and two, that nothing is permanent.”
Lambert, a recent widower and father to twin boys, has wanted to teach history since his missionary days in the early ’90s. He began pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history, as well as a teacher’s certification, while working as a part-time actor in short films. After his wife, Ivania, died of breast cancer in 2012, his life went haywire. Money was tight. Really tight
“I was barely staying afloat,” he said.
He participated in clinical trials for quick cash for himself and his children. He struggled to pay bills. Still, he continued on his educational journey. Just before the end of the spring 2013 semester, he heard about the Nau fund. It was a long shot, he said, but he had to try.
When he was selected for the scholarship, it was life changing.
“It was such a relief; you have no idea,” he said.
Studying history has changed his life as well. It has given him the gift of perspective that he works to share with his sons, Johnny and Ivan. Someday, he’ll share it with his future students.
“The biggest thing I’m taking away is being suspicious of simple answers,” he said. “I think that premise to dig deeper works for better relationships between countries and better relationships between individuals.”
It was a yearning to seek a stronger relationship with her father that sparked Valle’s love of history. Her father died when she was just eight years old—too young to ask him the questions that burn in her brain today. How did fighting in the war affect him as a person? What did he experience?
“My early interest in the Vietnam War and the 1960s began out of a desire to understand him and his world in ways I could not as a child,” she said.
Then she started wondering about her extended family, especially her maternal great-grandparents who moved to Texas from Mexico in the 1920s and worked as migrant workers.
Because of the Nau fund, she’ll work as a teaching assistant in the fall, where she can share her knowledge with other students and delve deeper into her own research.
“I’m excited to give back by helping undergraduate students in their history work,” Valle said. “This gift has driven me to work as hard as possible in my classes and has given me the freedom to pursue internships and other opportunities to develop my skills as a historian.”
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
The Nau Scholars Program Fund is historic as well. It is the first of its kind given to the history department to fund teaching assistants.
“It’s a huge development for us,” Michel said. “It helps the graduate students serve as teaching assistants, which helps the faculty they assist, which also helps the undergraduates that are being assisted by the TAs. It’s a phenomenal thing for us."
The fund will also raise the university’s visibility in the eyes of top-level history students from around the country, said Gelo. It also adds fuel to the college’s drive to add a history doctoral program.
“I believe that years from now, we will look back on Mr. and Mrs. Nau’s gift as a turning point in UTSA History’s evolution toward a top-tier department,” he said. “No less important is the gift’s legacy through each of those worthy students who earn a Nau fellowship and, because of it, will go on to make important contributions in Texas and U.S. history, whether in scholarly or community settings.”
While the majority of the fund is for students who specialize in various areas of history, each year one teaching assistantship is given to a student with a research focus on Texas history and another teaching assistantship is reserved for a student focusing on 19th century American history and the Civil War—a testament to Nau’s passion and interest in Civil War history.
The lessons learned and the profound changes in America as a result of the Civil War are too important to be lost, said Nau. His goal is to have people of all ages grasp how the nation’s historical landscape was altered by the war. To that end, dozens of artifacts are housed in a wing of his Houston office building where he hosts elementary school children on class field trips. He has amassed one of the largest private collections of historic artifacts, numbering some 20,000 documents and letters, 3,000 photographic images, uniforms, and about 300 weapons.
As chairman emeritus of the Civil War Trust, Nau has purchased and donated land where major battles were fought. His goal to ensure that historical sites would not be lost. He also serves as vice chairman of the National Park Foundation and has served on the boards of the Texas Historical Commission, Texas State Historical Association and the San Antonio Parks Foundation.
“Our students need to have the opportunity to learn about critical events in our country’s history, not just as dates and places on a map, but of the people involved in those momentous battles,” Nau said.
Because history defines us as a country and as a people, Valle added.
“History is a vital part of our lives, which I think has been demonstrated through the creation of the Nau fellowship,” Valle said. “One of the things I like best about history is that we’re making it and living it right now. As they say, we’ll someday belong to the ages.”
–Lety Laurel