The Department of History

Alumni News

• Katherine Chapman (neé Sherris) received her M.A. in ancient history from the University of Washington, where she is currently pursuing a Ph.D.
• Samuel P. Cox (1991) received his M.A. in History from the College of William and Mary in 1993. Since 2001 he has served as Headmaster at Faith Christian School, a K-12 independent, nondenominational, classical Christian school in Roanoke, Virginia. He is married to Erin Bobel Cox and they have three children, Anna Elise, Avery Elizabeth, and Samuel Charles. Sam retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 2002 as Lt. Colonel.
• Christopher Dorsey (2002) has published a book that began as an independent study course under the direction of Paul Kopperman. Published by Backintyme Press, A Call to Arms: The Realities of Military Service for African Americans during the Civil War (information about which can be found at www.backintyme.com/ad290.php), examines the social, cultural, and educational differences between African-American northerners and southerners, which most histories treat as one ethnicity. The book is a study of how African-Americans’ daily lives affected their perception of military service and, in turn, how their treatment (or mistreatment) by the Army ricocheted back on their day-to-day lives. Christopher is currently a lieutenant in the Navy with seventeen years of commissioned and enlisted service. He is married to Kira and has three children: Caitlin, Daniel, and Emily.
• Jenny Druckenmiller (2003) has earned an M.A. in classics at the University of Oregon and will begin teaching classes in Latin in Corvallis. An experienced instructor, Druckenmiller will offer classes through Logos House that are accredited by George Fox University, which previously sponsored courses in Greek as well. Her M.A. study focused on Greek and Latin language, history, literature, and culture.
• Claire Eberhardt (neé Dickie) received her M.A. in History from California State University at Sacramento in 2007. She currently teaches history at Sierra College and American River College in Sacramento.
• Chris Garrett, who received his M.A.I.S. in history and English from OSU, received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M this spring in English.
• Toby Jones is presently pursuing a career as an underwater archaeologist. His current responsibilities include excavating in Wales and the Mediterranean.
• Scott Kesterson (1988) has become a documentary filmmaker and freelance video-journalist. Scott recently completed fifteen months embedded with Oregon’s 41st Brigade on their deployment to Afghanistan. Over the course of the year, his footage appeared on PBS’s Frontline and Canada’s CBC, as well as KGW in Portland. He was awarded an Emmy in May 2007 for Best Photography and is currently working with David Leeson, Pulitzer Prize recipient and current Executive Producer of Video and New Media for the Dallas Morning News. Kesterson and Leeson are collaborating on the production of AT WAR, a documentary film that derived from their work of the past year and a half. More information on Scott’s project is available at www.atwarfilm.com.
• Tom Ordeman is now a technical writer for the U.S. Joint Forces Command’s Joint Innovation and Experimentation division in Suffolk, Virginia. Since leaving OSU, Tom has been involved in a series of military-related enterprises, and—aside from the necessity of buying new furniture once again—he speaks highly of his current move.
• Jessica Smith received her M.A. in secondary education this spring from Western Oregon University.
• David A. Stenstrom received a doctorate in medicine (M.D.) in June 2008 and begin a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at Legacy Health Systems in Portland.