Thomas Andrews

Professor Andrews teaches a wide range of courses in environmental history and the history of the United States West, and is passionate about educating current and future history teachers. Some of the courses he offers include "The U.S. Since 1865," "Colorado History," "The American West in the 19th Century," and "Animals in U.S. History."

Professor Andrews graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude from Yale and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His first book, Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War (Harvard University Press, 2008), won six awards, including the Bancroft Prize. His second book, Coyote Valley: Deep History in the High Rockies (Harvard University Press, 2015), explores the environmental history of the Colorado headwaters region of Rocky Mountain National Park. His most recent book, The Great Horse Flu: A Forgotten Pandemic and the Fate of Reconstruction America, will be published in fall 2026 by the University of North Carolina Press. Andrews is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award, and other honors. He currently serves as faculty director of the Center of the American West as well as a SPIKE Sustainability Center Faculty Fellow.

Email: thomas.andrews@colorado.edu

A man standing outdoors in front of a historical plaque with a building behind him. The man is smiling, with dark hair, a mustache, and wearing a patterned short-sleeve shirt with the top button undone, and a wedding ring on his left hand. The plaque has the heading 'Great Boston Fire Site' and provides information about a fire that occurred in Boston from November 9 to 11, 1872.
A man with dark hair, a mustache, and light skin is smiling and standing in front of a sign that reads 'Great Boston Fire Site'. He is wearing a blue patterned short-sleeve shirt and has his right hand on his hip.