William Alexander Jenks, of Lexington, Virginia, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History Emeritus at Washington and Lee University, died Monday, October 12, 2015.

Dr. Jenks was born January 20, 1918, in Jacksonville, Fla., to Thomas W. and Marjorie G. Jenks.

He graduated from W&L in 1939 with a B.A. in history, magna cum laude. He held an M.A. (1940) and a Ph.D. (1949) in European history from Columbia University.

He taught at W&L from 1946 to 1983 and was named department head in 1970. During his nearly four decades at W&L, Dr. Jenks taught a range of subjects, including European, Russian, and Islamic history.

From 1964 to 1966 he sat on the President's Advisory Committee at the university. He also served as a visiting professor of history at the University of Virginia, Duke University, the University of Maryland, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia Tech.

Dr. Jenks served in the United States Army in World War II, rising to the rank of captain. He served in the Office of Strategic Services in North Africa and the Middle East. In 1946 he worked at the Department of State.

He wrote four books on the Austro-Hungarian Empire: The Austrian Electoral Reform of 1907 (1950), Vienna and the Young Hitler (1960), Austria Under the Iron Ring, 1879-1893 (1965), and Francis Joseph and the Italians, 1849-1859 (1978). He contributed scholarly articles and book reviews to many publications including the Journal of Modern History and The American Historical Review.

Dr. Jenks belonged to the Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, and Omicron Delta Kappa national societies.

As a student, he was a member of Sigma Nu social fraternity. He belonged to the American Historical Association.

In 2009, he received W&L's Distinguished Alumnus Award on the occasion of his 70th class reunion. In 2007 tributes were gathered into a book, ÉEnding with a Flourish: A Collection of Essays Celebrating William A. Jenks Ð Teacher, Scholar, Mentor, Friend, from such admirers and former students as Roger Mudd '50, Holt Merchant '61, Larry Boetsch'69, Gerry Lenfest'53, Robert E. R. Huntley '50, '57L, Robert Paxton '54, Henry Turner '54, Roy Matthews '54, and President Kenneth A. Ruscio, '76.

President Ruscio said that a fellow alumnus once told him that he had majored not so much in history but in Jenks. Ruscio went on to say Dr. Jenks infused generations of students with a passion for learning and that his devotion to teaching undergraduates will continue to inspire his successors.

Former President Robert E. R. Huntley wrote, "Of the heroes of my W&L years as student, teacher, and administrator, Jenks is the one whom I identify as a precise embodiment of this school's ideal professor. [He was] an accomplished and productive scholar, a teacher who drew out the best in the young minds that encountered his, a campus citizen whose understanding of our most exalted ideals was joined with capacity for practical solutions."

In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts be given to one of the following W&L scholarships: William A. Jenks Award in History for W&L graduates undertaking graduate work in history; the William A. Jenks Scholarship for students of unusual academic merit with a strong interest in history; or the Class of 1954 William A. Jenks Scholarship.

Dr. Jenks' wife of 54 years, Jane Irving Jenks, died in 2003. Their son, Thomas W. Jenks II, died in 1996.

He is survived by his daughter, Elaine Jenks Emerson, of Lexington; daughter-in-law, Natalie Land Jenks; granddaughter, Kendra Emerson Kilburn '07 and husband, John Kilburn; and great-granddaughter, Addison Paige Kilburn.

Services will be private.

Arrangements by Harrison Funeral Home & Crematory, Lexington, VA.