Hoover’s Niall Ferguson Collects America Abroad Media Award for Bringing History to Life

Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA)— Niall Ferguson, Hoover’s Milbank Senior Fellow, was honored by America Abroad Media (AAM) at its annual award gala earlier this month for life’s work illuminating the role of history in explaining how the modern world came to be.

Former diplomat Elliott Abrams presented Ferguson his award at the 13^th annual America Abroad Media Awards Dinner in Washington, DC, on October 19, “for his extraordinary contributions to our understanding of history, politics, and the forces shaping our world.”

Specifically, AAM recognized Ferguson for his “dedication and unique ability to bring history and complex global issues to broad audiences through documentary television, journalism, and new media.”

Ferguson told attendees at the dinner: “There's something rotten in the state of history education around the world today. The toxic quality of what I call 'anti-history' on social media is only making matters worse, and artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to amplify historical falsehoods, not least Holocaust denial.

“That's why high-quality, factual films about the past are so important. It means a great deal to me and my colleagues at Chimerica Media to be honored in this way for our efforts."

Ferguson has written or produced a number of television series, documentaries, and other films over the past two decades that use historical study to explain why the world is what it is today.

They include Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World, a 2003 Channel 4 series that explores the time when the British Empire was the most dominant force on earth; The Ascent of Money, a PBS/Channel 4 production that explored the origin of the global financial system; Niall Ferguson’s Networld, a three-part PBS series from 2020 that explains the intersection of digital networks; social media, and emerging technology.

It also includes 2011’s Kissinger, a documentary on the late former secretary of state, produced by Ferguson’s production company, Chimerica Media, and also Pizza Under Fire, a 2025 documentary that follows international volunteers driving a relief truck into Ukraine’s eastern frontline, serving pizzas and offering comfort to civilians along the way.

At Hoover, Ferguson chairs the Applied History Working Group and co-leads the Hoover History Lab.

For more information, please contact Jeffrey Marschner, assistant director of media and government relations, at jmarsch@stanford.edu or 202-760-3200.