David L. Holmes

At William & Mary, Holmes received the Society of Alumni Teaching Award, the Thomas A. Graves Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching, the Seven Society Award, the Outstanding Faculty Award of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Thomas Jefferson Award.^[4] The latter is the highest honor given by Jefferson’s alma mater to an administrator or professor.^[5] Lisa Birnbach’s The College Book: A Preppy Guide to American Colleges named Holmes as one of the three best classroom teachers at William & Mary.^[6] Holmes revived the Bishop Madison Society (founded 1812), the Skull and Bones of William & Mary.^[7]

Holmes wrote the academic best-seller, A Brief History of the Episcopal Church (1993),^[8] the best-selling The Faiths of the Founding Fathers (2006),^[9] and the highly regarded The Faiths of the Postwar Presidents: From Truman to Obama (2012).^[10] He also wrote Glimpses of a Public Ivy: Fifty Years at William & Mary (2022) (hardcover published by Schiffer Publishing). Upon his retirement he was named Walter G. Mason Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus.

Known even after retiring for his polished lecturing style and ability to engage audiences, Holmes spoke extensively to public libraries, adult education classes, and church and synagogue groups. He lectured at such colleges and universities as Lafayette, Michigan, Washington & Jefferson, Rhodes, DePaul, Grove City, Kent State, Furman, and Samford.^[11][12] He was invited to speak at the libraries or homes of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Franklin Roosevelt, Ford, and Carter. Research libraries at which he spoke include the Clements and the Newberry.

Upon his retirement, Holmes’s former students established the David L. Holmes Reformation Studies and American Religious History Endowment to honor "his tenure and 46 years of intellectual legacy at the College [of William & Mary]."^[13]