Historian Robert V. Remini delivered the first annual Heroes of History Lecture on May 1, 2003. Remini, a prize-winning biographer of Andrew Jackson, spoke on "Ordinary Heroes: Founders of Our Republic."

Remini, professor emeritus of history and the humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is currently at work on a narrative history of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been teaching history for more than 50 years and writing books about American history for nearly as long. In addition to his three-volume biography of Jackson, he is the author of biographies of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, as well as a dozen other books on Jacksonian America. He was educated at Fordham University (B.S., 1943) and Columbia University (M.A., 1947, Ph.D., 1951).

Among his many honors are the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation Award, the Carl Sandburg Award for Nonfiction, the University Scholar Award of the University of Illinois, the American Historical Association's Award for Scholarly Distinction, and the National Book Award. Active in the national history community, Remini has served as a review panel member for the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1974. In 1991, he delivered a Presidential Lecture at the White House.

The "Heroes of History Lecture" offers the public an opportunity to learn about the lives and deeds of our nation's heroes. The lecture is held annually and carries a $10,000 honorarium.