Lowell Joseph Ragatz (1897-1978) was a professor of history at George Washington University from 1924-49, and served as chairman of the department from 1934-37. After receiving a preliminary education at his home town of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, Ragatz went to the University of Wisconsin where he earned a B.A. degree in 1920, M.A. degree in 1921, and Ph.D. in 1925. He continued his graduate study at the University of Pennsylvania in 1921-22, the University of Grenoble in 1922, University of Paris in 1922-23, College of France in 1922-23, Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques in 1922-23, and the London School of Economics in 1923.

He was teaching fellow at the University of Wisconsin in 1920-21 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1921-22 before coming to GW in 1924. He was a delegate to the second Congress of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History, a lecturer at the War Department in 1942 and the Lend- Lease Administration's African Mission Training School at Washington, D.C. in 1943 (the lecture was published as Introductaion to French West Africa and Introduction to French North Africa), and a consultant with the U.S. Information Office in London during 1947-48.

Dr. Ragatz was regarded as a pioneer of African studies in the United States and also was one of the first professors who used audio-visual aids in university education. He was a member of the American Historical Association, the American Association of University Professors, the Inter-American Bibliographical and Library Association, Societe d'Histoire Moderne, Societe d'Histoire des Colonies Francaises, Phi Beta Kappa, Ominicron Delta Kappa, Pi Delta Epsilon, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Alpha Theta, Acacia, the Free and Accepted Masons.

Dr. Ragatz edited twenty-eight volumes for the American Historical Association from 1929-42, and authored seventeen books from 1922-62. He was awarded the Justin Winsor Prize of the American Historical Association in 1926 and a Guggenheim Fellowship for 1933 and 1934.

Dr. Ragatz was a elected to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 1979 and was a life-long student of philatelic fakes, forgeries and bogus stamps. Using the pen name, "George Van Den Berg," his "Philatelic Notes" column was published in Stamps from 1933 through the early 1960s. The column was devoted to stamp collecting, collectors, and the changing philatelic customs of those times. He was lauded for his long membership in the Society of Philatelic Americans which he joined in 1910 when it was the Southern Philatelic Association. Dr. Ragatz died October 29, 1978.