Northern Illinois University
Department of History
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

M.A. and Ph.D. Graduates

• Joseph P. Reidy (Ph.D., 1982), professor emeritus at Howard University, has won the prestigious Bancroft Prize for his 2019 book Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery.
• Dr. Robert Hanserd (Ph.D., 2011), Assistant Professor at Columbia College in Chicago, has published a new book, Identity, Freedom and Spirit in the Atlantic World: The Gold Coast and the African Diaspora with Routledge.
• Dr. Nicole Dressler (Ph.D., 2018), Assistant Professor at the College of William & Mary has won the Society of the Cincinnati Research Fellowship.
• The latest issue of Early American Studies features articles by two NIU History alumni: Dr. Tom Arne Mitrød (Ph.D., 2008), Associate Professor at the University of Iowa ("'Calling for More Than Human Vengeance': Desecrating Native Graves in Early America"), and Dr. Nicole Dressler (Ph.D., 2018), Assistant Professor at the College of William & Mary ("'Enimies to Mankind': Convict Servitude, Authority, and Humanitarianism in the British Atlantic World").
• Dr. Joseph P. Reidy (Ph.D., 1982), professor emeritus at Howard University, has published Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery with University of North Carolina Press.
• Lael Weinberger (M.A., 2013) has received multiple prestigious fellowship offers for 2019-20 and has decided to accept the Berger-Howe Fellowship at Harvard, a premiere fellowship in legal history.
• Robert Alan Glover (M.A., 2013) and current student Jeremiah Moore-Moauro were featured in a Daily Chronicle report about their research at the Glidden Homestead.
• Mat Billings (Ph.D., 2017) has received the University of Indianapolis' first ever Shaheen College Adjunct Faculty Award for excellence in teaching.
• Reid Weber (M.A., 2007) has accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Central Oklahoma in the Department of Humanities and Philosophy, starting in Fall 2018.
• Adam Lopez, (M.A., 2015) accepted a position as Program Coordinator for the Office of Intercultural Relations at Lake Forest College.
• Benjamin SchM.A.,ck (M.A., 2015) won the best graduate student essay award at the Mid-America American Studies Association. His paper was entitled, “‘Denouncing the Masked Order’: Radicalism, Identity, and Dissent in the UWM.A.,”.
• Gerald Daniel Louis (M.A.,, 2015) has begun the Ph.D., program at Queen's University Belfast under the direction of Dr EmM.A., Reisz and Dr Ashok M.A.,lhotra. His research is "The East India Company and Transportation of Indian Convicts to the Straits Settlements, 1796-1857."
• Michael Lovell (M.A.,, 2015) attends the University of Tennessee for Ph.D. work in medieval history.
• Traci Brindle (M.A., 2014) accepted a position as Chief Curator of the M.A.,rk Twain House and Museum in Hartford, CT.
• William Avila (M.A., 2014) received the bronze Career Services Internship/Co-op Student of the Year award for 2014-2015 for his work with the Flagg Township Museum, Rochelle, IL.  Buddy is working with the Glidden Homestead Museum, DeKalb IL.
• Jennifer Nevins (M.A., 2014) published "Standing Behind, Riding Astride: The Patriotic Order of Americans 1897-1924" in the Spring 2015 edition of the University of Toronto’s journal Past Tense.
• Alex Revzan (M.A., 2014) discovered previously unknown film footage of the 1915 Eastland Disaster in Chicago.  He received considerable media coverage with articles in the NIU Today and the Chicago Tribune in February 2015.