A memorial for Raymond Birn, professor emeritus in the UO Department of History, is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, in the Giustina Ballroom of the Ford Alumni Center. Birn passed away June 12.

Birn, a scholar of revolutionary France, joined the history department in 1962 and served as department head from 1971 to 1978. He spent his distinguished career at the UO, where he received a Fulbright Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and an appointment in 2001 as a visiting professor at Collège de France, where he received a medal.

His scholarly work focused on the cultural and social history of 18th-century France. He was recognized internationally as an expert on the political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and as a pioneer in the study of transnational publishing and state censorship. He was the author of numerous books and articles published during his career, and his textbook “Crisis, Absolutism, Revolution: Europe 1648-1789” is in its third edition.

A tribute to Birn and a more complete biography can be found on the UO Department of History website.