Peter R. Henriques received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia in 1971 and is Professor of History, Emeritus, from George Mason University. He taught American and Virginia history with a special emphasis on the Virginia Founding Fathers, especially George Washington.
His most recent book, Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington, published by the University of Virginia Press came out in paperback in 2008. His other books include The Death of George Washington: He Died as He Lived and a brief biography of George Washington written for the National Park Service. His current book project is entitled, “America’s Atlas: The Leadership of George Washington and other Essays.”
A member of both the Editorial Board for the George Washington Papers and of the Mount Vernon committee of George Washington Scholars, he regularly conducts Leadership Institutes at Mount Vernon for various government and private groups and is involved in various teacher seminars conducted by Mount Vernon and other educational institutions. He presented the Distinguished Lecture Series at Colonial Williamsburg, 2011-12, and was the 2012 winner of the George Washington Memorial Award given by the George Washington Masonic Memorial Association. For the past several years he has been the Scholar in Residence for Mount Vernon’s “Weekend with George Washington” open to Virginia teachers.