Vandiver wrote, co-wrote, or edited 24 books, and published an additional 100 scholarly articles or reviews.
[1] He attended the public schools but was eventually pulled out by his parents, in favor of private tutorship.
[2] He joined the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and served as a historian.
[4] In 1963-1964 he served as Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University.
[3] During his tenure, Vandiver was a driving force behind the adoption of a law creating space-grant colleges in the United States.
Colleges given this designation would gain federal funds to research space-related technologies.
[6] Vandiver resigned as president of A&M in 1988, citing a desire to spend more time on research and writing.
[3] Vandiver wrote, co-wrote or edited 24 books, most centered on the American Civil War.