George Herring retired after thirty-six years at the University of Kentucky, including eleven as chair of the Department of History. He was visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy and the University of Richmond, as well as a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand. Herring's connection to the Patterson School started in the 1970s. He received his B.A. from Roanoke College and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Professor Herring's research centered on U.S. foreign relations. His most recent work is From Colony to Superpower: American Foreign Relations Since 1776, (part of the Oxford History of the United States). Other published works include The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius; America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975; The Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The "Negotiating Volumes" of the Pentagon Papers; and LBJ and Vietnam: A Different Kind of War. Professor Herring is one of the nation's foremost experts on the Vietnam War.