Alumni Spotlight

Paxton Stover

PhD, 2026

"I am eternally grateful for my time at Kansas State University for many reasons. I formed lasting friendships with my fellow graduate students, and that sense of community played a profound role in shaping my graduate experience. I am also deeply appreciative of the support I received from the department—through the valuable teaching experience I gained as a GTA, as well as the encouragement and mentorship provided by the faculty and my adviser, Andrew Orr. Their guidance challenged me and helped me develop into the person and historian I am today."

Paxton defended his dissertation, “The Future Viewed Through Red Colored Glasses”: China, Vietnam, and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Domestic Agenda, in Spring 2026. His research focuses on the intersection of U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics, and Cold War political culture, with particular emphasis on the Vietnam War, U.S.-China relations, and the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. His dissertation argues that Johnson’s escalation in Vietnam was shaped not only by strategic concerns abroad, but also by domestic political pressures tied to anti-communism, the legacy of the “loss of China,” and the desire to preserve the Great Society agenda through gradual, carefully managed escalation.

Dr. Stover is currently an Instructor of History at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas—a position he was appointed to in January 2026 while still ABD.

Lisa Caitlin Highsmith

PhD, 2026

"My favorite memories of the K-State History Department center on the sense of community and camaraderie fostered by the faculty and my fellow graduate students. As an out-of-state student, this environment helped make the university and the city of Manhattan feel like home."

Lisa’s dissertation, entitled “Ghost in the media machine: Frances Ann Conant, the Banner of Light, and the manufacture of the Spiritualist celebrity,” focuses on the longest-running American Spiritualist newspaper (Banner of Light) and its manipulation of the historical record when creating the celebrity persona of its resident medium (Frances Ann Conant). This study situates itself within the broader narratives of nineteenth-century American print culture, celebrity, and religious commercialization.

Dr. Highsmith currently serves as the Collections Manager + Registrar for the Museum of Art + Light in Manhattan, KS, a position she was appointed to in 2023 while she was ABD.

Mark Danley

PhD, 2001

"My experiences with the K-State History faculty while I was a Ph.D. student there taught me not only how to be a historian but how to be a better teacher and mentor. Over twenty years later, in Spring 2023, I participated in a dissertation defense for the first time as a faculty member and advisor. It was the defense of a student who had struggled with difficult life situations, finances, and more – and yet was determined and at her core a good scholar. I was never so proud as to see her successfully complete her dissertation and defend successfully and go from being my student to my colleague. I let her know that I learned how to be an effective advisor from your colleagues and former colleagues like Robin Higham, Michael Ramsay, Marsha Frey, Louise Breen, Bob Linder, John McCullough and others."

"Unfortunately, in my time in the K-State History Department, there were negative examples as well as positive examples. I tell myself there's no need to dwell on those faculty members in my time who belittled, badgered or ridiculed students, blaming everything on them and complaining about our supposed perpetual failings. Honestly, I learned from them too; learning how NOT to treat my own students. I hope that they learned over time and maybe changed from what I experienced. I like now to concentrate on what I learned from those named above and how I can use it to do good in the world."

In January 2025 I published: "Geopolitics and War in Eighteenth-Century Bengal to 1757," in Geopolitics and War, edited by Jeremy Black, 223-242, Fucina di marte, 20. Rome: Società Italiana di Storia Militare, 2025. Thirty years ago, Dr. Ken Jones got me started in South Asian history. I took his South Asian history reading seminar in Fall 1994. When I told him that I wanted to get at least cognizant of South Asian history because I thought it would naturally help me as someone interested in eighteenth-century Britain, he made clear that he absolutely understood this motive and he would help me get a good foundation in the field. Robin Higham was my major advisor and he readily approved and, in his usual way, gave me a dozen suggestions about South Asian military history topics that I might ask Dr. Jones about as I was getting started. I was the only student in Ken Jones's seminar but he was happy to offer it as essentially a guided independent readings course. In a following semester I took his research seminar in South Asian history and that helped even further.

Sadly, it was not long after that he passed away. I doubt there is anyone on the faculty there any longer who even remembers Dr. Jones, except perhaps Louise, who I believe worked with him a few years before he passed away. Nevertheless it is very important to me that the K-State History Department knows that what he did as a scholar and teacher mattered, and the evidence is the kind that we historians like most: published peer-reviewed scholarship. Dr. Kenneth W. Jones wanted South Asian history to be part of Kansas State and one of your alumni is indeed publishing in it. I hope you understand my sentiment in conveying this news. I owe a lot to Robin as well.

Michael Hankins

PhD, 2018

"When I think of my time at K-State, I mostly think of the deep friendships I made while I was there. Whether it was working together in writing groups, collaborating on research, or just hanging out for fun, I truly loved the strong sense of community there, both among the other students and the faculty. Many of the people I met at K-State are still among my closest friends today."

Michael Hankins arrived at Kansas State in 2013 and began working with Dr. Donald Mrozek. His research focused on the history of military aviation, particularly the technological design and development of aircraft. He successfully defended his dissertation in 2018, which explored how the unique culture of fighter pilots influenced the technological design of the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

Since completing his time at KSU, Hankins has been an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, a professor of strategy at Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, and is currently the Curator for U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps post-WW2 Aviation at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. His dissertation from K-State became the basis for his first book, Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia (Cornell University Press, 2021). He is also the host of the "From Balloons to Drones" podcast.

 

Brian Laslie

PhD, 2013

"I loved the sense of community and family at Kansas State and remain a die hard K-State fan. I never felt in competition with any of the grad students and we hung out together a lot, even outside of school. We all had a great time together."

While at K-State, Brian's research focused on American military history with a focus on air power and Cold War studies. In 2013, he defended his dissertation entitled "Red Flag: How the Rise of 'Realistic Training' after Vietnam Changed the Air Force's Way of War, 1975-1999," which later turned into his first book, The Air Force Way of War (University Press of Kentucky, 2015).

Brian became an historian for the Air Force in 2009, when he was ABD, and currently serves as the Command Historian for the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.

 

Matthew McDonough

PhD, 2011

"Believe it or not I have very fond memories of prepping for preliminary exams with some of my grad buddies."

Matthew started my PhD at K-State in fall of 2007 and completed it in the fall of 2011. His dissertation, directed by Dr. Charles Sanders, was entitled "Manifestly uncertain destiny which explored 19th century expansion and rhetoric."

He spent about a decade teaching military history and teaching pedagogy at Coastal Carolina University and had a 1yr visiting position at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 2024 he started a new job as Assistant Professor of Military and Security Studies in the Department of Warfighting at the Air Command and Staff College.

 

Rich Myrick

PhD, 2023

“My favorite memories of K-State reflect the friendship and support of fellow students. While I chose K-State for the quality of its faculty and programs, I will remember most fondly the intellectual engagement and convivial camaraderie of my peers.”

Rich’s dissertation focused on the foundation and legacy of a liberal and non-confessional Catholic political party active in France from 1901-1919. The subject fits into his broader interest in political, constitutional, and confessional movements in Early Modern and Modern Europe. He also studies eighteenth and nineteenth century naval history, with a specific research interest in the British and French naval forces of the Georgian Era.

Post-graduation, Rich continues to research and write about both political and military history.

 

Kenneth Smith

PhD, 2024

“I would not be where I am today without K-State. The faculty and my fellow grad students helped me grow professionally as a historian, as a student, and as an educator. The relationships I built there both personally and professionally from my time as an M.A. student through earning my Ph.D. made the process an exceptional one.”

Kenneth Smith began his doctoral work in 2019 after graduating with his masters from Kansas State in 2018 and continued his work with Dr. Andrew Orr. His research focused on Black history, particularly Black education and western imperialism. He successfully defended his dissertation in 2024. It explored the efforts of Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute to use the Black education model of the U.S. South to help Black people throughout the African diaspora that had been impacted by both Jim Crow and western imperialism.

Kenneth currently serves as a tenure track associate professor of history at Taft College in Taft, California, a position he was appointed to in 2023 while he was ABD.

 

Kate Tietzen-Wisdom

PhD, 2019

“K-State immediately felt like home to me. This included the history department, the university, and the city of Manhattan. It was wonderful to feel such a strong sense of belonging and community. But even then, I love that the K-State network is so extensive—I keep in regular touch with several of my fellow graduate students and always seem to run into history department alum at work or social events across the country.”

While at K-State, Kate Tietzen-Wisdom worked with Dr. Don Mrozek. Her research focused on Iraqi military and diplomatic operations in the Cold War and post-Cold War era using Ba'th Party documents captured following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In order to research this topic, Kate studied Arabic in Oman and Jordan.

She now works at the US Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, as part of the Iraq War division currently working on the official histories of the US Army in Iraq.