John Matthew Smith, a 2006 M.A. from the History Department, recently published Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty That Changed College Basketball (University of Illinois Press, 2013).
Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. from Purdue University and is currently an assistant professor of history at Georgia Tech. The Sons of Westwood recounts how Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton--two of the most famous basketball players of their generation--spoke out against racism, poverty, and the Vietnam War. In this way, they elevated the role of athletes as agents of social change in American society.