The History News Network has named Kansas University history professor Jonathan Earle as one of the nation’s eight top young historians.

“When I looked at it, the other people they chose, aside from me, are pretty darn impressive,” Earle said.

He made the list along with three Yale professors, two from Harvard, one from the University of South Carolina and one from McGill University.

Sean Wilentz, one of Earle’s former professors at Princeton, nominated Earle without telling him.

“He said that in some ways I’m his best contribution to the profession,” Earle said. “But it’s an honor for me to be associated with him.”

The History News Network Web site includes a discussion board, and it typically encourages historians to write editorial pieces for the media, Earle said.

The Web site now includes a short biography about Earle and the other selectees.

Besides teaching history classes at KU, Earle also is the associate director for programming at the Dole Institute of Politics.

He joined KU’s faculty in 1997 and has written the books “Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil, 1824-1854” and “The Routledge Atlas of African American History.”

Earle now is working on a book about John Brown. Working on the book amid Lawrence’s antislavery history has made it an interesting endeavor, he said.

“It should be fun to see what our town thinks,” Earle said of the publication that is expected in mid-2006.

As for his new fame, Earle said he has enjoyed hearing congratulations and teasing from former students and colleagues.

“It’s pretty intriguing company to be in,” Earle said.