Light Townsend Cummins

In 2010, Cummins' book Emily Austin of Texas was given the 2010 Liz Carpenter Award from the Texas State Historical Association, a distinction given to the best book of the year dealing with Texas women.

In May 2009, Governor of Texas Rick Perry appointed Cummins as the official Texas State Historian, an office whose purpose is to advance the cause of Texas history throughout the state.

In 2006, Cummins was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor. The following year, he received the Alumni Achievement Award from Texas State University-San Marcos, and in 2011, he was honored by the university's College of Liberal Arts with its Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Cummins is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

In 2003, Cummins served as historical consultant and on-camera commentator for Louisiana: A History, a six-episode television series celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, a series produced by Louisiana Public Broadcasting and aired nationally by PBS.

In 1994, Cummins was awarded the Premio de España y America by King Juan Carlos I of Spain for his scholarly research dealing with the history of Spain and the United States. Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. commissioned Cummins a Kentucky Colonel in honor of his publications dealing with the history of the Mississippi Valley.

Cummins has been a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate of the Danforth Foundation. In 1993, Governor of Texas Ann Richards appointed Cummins to serve on the Stephen F. Austin Bicentennial Commission.

Light Townsend Cummins (born April 23, 1946) is an American educator and historian. He was the Bryan Professor of History at Austin College in Sherman, Texas prior to his retirement in 2018 and was the official State Historian of Texas from May 2009 to July 2012.