About

I am the Colonel Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. I earned my bachelor’s degree in English at Connecticut College and my doctorate in American Studies at the George Washington University.

From 2024-2025, I had the honor of serving as the Harold K. Johnson Chair of Military History at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

Prior to coming to CSU, I was associate professor of history and chair of the history department at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA, where I also coordinated the concentration in American Studies. Earlier in my career, I was a visiting assistant professor in the American Studies Department at Franklin & Marshall College and the history department at Skidmore College, and I have held fellowships in the American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis and in the Obert C. And Grace Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah.

When I am not teaching and writing, I can be found hiking, paddling, or fishing in the Adirondack Mountains with my wife Emma Gilmore Kieran; training for a marathon or a half-Ironman triathlon; biking; taking my labradoodles Ollie and Owen to the park; cooking; and incrementally improving my guitar playing.