Randy Roberts is Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. His primary research areas are sports and popular culture within the larger context of recent American history. He is an award-winning biographer and is highly visible in the field of post-1945 American history. Among his more important books are Heavy Justice: The State of Indiana v. Michael G. Tyson (1994); Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler (1979); Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (1983); “But They Can’t Beat Us”: Oscar Robertson and the Crispus Attucks Tigers (1999); and Joe Louis: Hard Times Man (2010); and with James S. Olson, John Wayne American (1995); A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (2000); Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945 (1989); and Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1990 (1989). Roberts has served frequently as a consultant for PBS News, HBO, and the History Channel.