The Vermont Historical Society presented its 2013 President’s Award to Senator William Doyle and has established the William T. Doyle History Day Fund in his honor.

Doyle has been a professor of humanities at Johnson State College for 55 years and has served in the Senate since 1969. According to the Society, Doyle has received this award, “in recognition of his life-long preservation of Vermont’s history through community documentaries, professorship at Johnson State College, History Day Judging, active engagement with the Vermont Historical Society and other heritage organizations, and many other heroic history efforts.”

Doyle says that one of the highlights of his life has been writing “The Vermont Political Tradition,” which was published in 1982 and is required reading for many colleges including the University of Vermont.

He is also the author of the Town Meeting Survey, better known as the “Doyle Survey,” which is distributed each year and aims to get feedback on some of the most important issues in Vermont at the time.

While his primary focus is politics, Doyle finds working with students on Vermont history highly rewarding.

“One of my favorite things is working with the students on Vermont History Day,” said Doyle. This is an educational program in which students grades 5 through 12 explore a historical topic of their choosing and present their research in the form of documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, or websites at a statewide competition.

Doyle has been a judge of this event for over 20 years. “The VHS has created the William T. Doyle Vermont History Day fund to support activities associated with this essential educational event,” said Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society, Mark Hudson.