With backgrounds in social history, military history, French history and American history, Michael S. Neiberg has published widely on the theme of war in the world, especially in the era of the two world wars. His most recent books are The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944 (2012) and Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I (2011). He has also taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of Southern Mississippi.

The family and friends of the late Benjamin Kopper Smith established the B.K. Smith Lecture in History in 1957. The series has brought distinguished scholars to the University of St. Thomas campus to lecture and hold informal discussions with students and faculty.