James Fulton Zimmerman

James Fulton Zimmerman (September 11, 1887 – October 20, 1944) was an American historian and professor of political science. He was the seventh president of University of New Mexico and played a central role in its development and expansion. He is known in the academic historical world for his research into the subject of American seamen "impressed" into the Royal Navy by the British before and during the War of 1812. He also played an important role in the founding of the New Mexico Coronado Cuarto Centennial Commission, of which he served as its first president.

Early life and education Zimmerman was born in Glen Allen, Missouri, on September 11, 1887. In 1913, he was awarded an M.A. degree. That year he also married Willa Adella Tucker, who went by her middle name Adella. Zimmerman received a bachelor's and a master's degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Upon graduation Zimmerman was offered teaching positions from Ohio State University and the University of New Mexico. Zimmerman chose New Mexico and moved to Albuquerque with his wife, Adella, in 1925. The first postgraduate studies in the southwest were a direct result of his efforts to continue the direction and work of the university's former presidents while never losing focus on academics. The first postgraduate studies in that geographical era were a direct result of his efforts to continue the direction and work of his predecessors, while never losing focus on academics. His work reviews the legal and diplomatic debates surrounding the Royal Navy's impressment of American citizens since the War of 1812.

When the New Mexico Coronado Cuarto Centennial Commission was established in 1935, Zimmerman was elected its president. He joined Edgar Hewett, a longtime friend in a commemoration that lasted a year, which included the creation of Coronado State Monument at the ruins of Kuaua Pueblo, near Bernalillo.

Zimmerman died October 20, 1944, at the age of 57 from a second heart attack after struggling with coronary thrombosis.

Zimmerman Field and Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico were named for him.