Kathleen DuVal

Kathleen DuVal is an American historian and author who is currently a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is known for her 2024 book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in History. The book was also awarded a Bancroft Prize (awarded by Columbia University for books about diplomacy or history of the Americas), the Cundill History Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize. Native Nations details the history of the many tribes comprising the Native Americans in the United States, from settling in North America to the present day. DuVal drew upon numerous written and oral histories of native peoples to write the book. The jury for the Bancroft Prize called the work "a seamless panorama of 1,000 years of American history" and stated that the historical narrative helped one understand the renaissance of Native American culture in the present day.

Her 2015 book Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution discussed the American Revolution on the fronts of Spanish Louisiana and British West Florida and from the perspective of eight people. Some of the eight historical characters had been people who were historically marginalized and under-represented; including a slave, Native American leaders and women. The book was awarded the 2016 George Washington Book Prize for the best book about the founding of the United States.

Duval earned a degree from Stanford University in 1992 and a PhD from The University of California, Davis in 2001. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018 in the field of U.S. History.