History Professor René A. De la Pedraja, PhD, is the 2019 recipient of the Kenneth L. Koessler Distinguished Faculty Award. Conferred annually by the Canisius University Alumni Association, the award recognizes teaching excellence and outstanding scholarship.
De la Pedraja is revered by students as an exceptionally dedicated and effective educator whose coursework is challenging, academically rich and presented with clarity and conviction. He is similarly admired for his scholarly reviews of the wars of Latin America and their underpinning social tensions, which are chronicled throughout the many books he authored. De la Pedraja is credited with establishing the Latin American Studies Program at Canisius, and admired for his tireless work representing the Faculty Senate.
De la Pedraja earned degrees in history from the University of Houston (BA), and the University of Chicago (MA and PhD).
