History Prof to Lead University Faculty

Professor of History David Zonderman is beginning a two-year term as chair of the NC State faculty senate. He’s concerned about state cuts to higher education, but remains optimistic that more political leaders will listen.

Zonderman wants education professionals to push back against the notion that public education has failed society.

“As a historian, I have to ask, ‘Where is your historical evidence?’” he said in a recent interview with NC State Bulletin* editor David Hunt. “Look at the quality of our faculty, look at quality of our research discoveries, look at how many of them have been turned into inventions, look at the quality of our graduates. … Faculty members here care deeply about teaching and about their students. They are passionate about their research, whether it’s artistic research or cutting-edge inventions.”

A native of Boston, Zonderman earned his undergraduate degree at Amherst, and his master’s and Ph.D. at Yale. He has received numerous awards for teaching and earned the university’s Outstanding Extension Service Award for 2012-2013. He was the recent subject of a video created by CHASS students that highlights his research and his passion for teaching.

*Read the full interview in The Bulletin.