David Zonderman Named to Lead Department of History at NC State

Professor of History David A. Zonderman has been named head of the Department of History at NC State, effective immediately.

Zonderman has been acting head since the untimely death of former head Jonathan Ocko in January 2015. Zonderman served as associate head under Ocko from 2004 – 2015.

Among his leadership roles within the college and across NC State, Zonderman was chair of the university’s faculty from 2013 – 2015. He served on the university’s budget restructuring  task force from 2012 – 2015. He is leading the efforts to rebuild the college’s Humanities Extension Program.

“David has deep experience into the inner workings of history, as well as a broad understanding of our college and our campus,” said Jeff Braden, dean of Humanities and Social Sciences. “I am confident he will serve the Department of History, the college and NC State extremely well.”

An Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, Zonderman teaches introductory, advanced and graduate courses in U.S. history, American labor history, the history of nonprofits and public history (especially museum studies).  The NCSU Libraries awarded him its faculty award in 2010.

He is the author of Aspirations and Anxieties: New England Workers and the Mechanized Factory System, 1815-1850 (Oxford University Press); and Uneasy Allies: Working For Labor Reform in Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of Massachusetts Press). His current book project, Fighting on the Homefront: Workers and the Civil War, is under contract with Praeger. His research has been funded by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, American Philosophical Society, National Endowment for the Humanities and other institutions.

His impressive record of engagement – for which the university has twice recognized him with its Outstanding Extension Service Award – includes seminars and classes for learners of all ages and work with museums across the state and around the country. He has held leadership positions with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the North Carolina Museum of History, the Raleigh City Museum and the North Carolina Maritime Museum, among others.  He has consulted with and served as museum exhibit evaluator for exhibit projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Zonderman is an elected member of the Historical Society of North Carolina, and the Board of Directors for the Friends of the State Archives of North Carolina. He served on the Advisory Editorial Committee for the North Carolina Historical Review, and recently completed a term as vice president of the Southern Labor Studies Association.

Zonderman holds a B.A. from Amherst College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University.