At a time when the academic job market is contracting and PhD graduates from top universities often have great difficulty finding employment, our History PhD graduates have continued to have extraordinary success in obtaining history-related jobs. Our recent graduates have found employment in a wide variety of institutions, including museums, government, nonprofit organizations, and universities.
David McKenzie received his PHD in 2021. He wrote his dissertation, “Racing Ahead of Manifest Destiny: US Migration, Citizenship, and Commercial Expansion in Mexico’s Interior, 1821-53,” under the direction of Professor Joan Bristol. David worked for a number of years in the field of Public History, first at Ford’s Theater and then at the Folger Shakespeare Library, both in Washington, DC. In January 2026, he began a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Public History at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Greta Swain received her PHD in 2023. She wrote her dissertation, “Potomac Networks: Waterways, Commerce, and Enslavement in the George Mason Family, 1700-1828,” under the direction of Professor Rosemarie Zagarri. During her time at Mason, she gained extensive experience in Digital History by working at projects at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. After graduation, she receive a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. In Fall 2025, she began a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor in Public History and Early American History at the University of North Texas.
Laura Brannan Fretwell received her PHD in 2025. She wrote her dissertation, "Forgetting the Freed: The Buried Histories of Chimborazo Park, Richmond, Virginia, 1861-1961," under the direction of Professor Alison Landsberg. During her time at GMU, she had a Digital History Fellowship at the University of Luxembourg, in connection the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. In Fall 2025, she began a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor in Digital and Public History at Florida Atlantic University.
Caroline Greer received her PHD in 2025. She wrote her dissertation, “Sites of Spectacle and Sites of Sacrifice: The Female Itinerant’s Body in the Early American Republic,” under the direction of Professor John Turner. In Fall 2025, she began a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor in Public History at Radford University in Radford, VA, where she teaches courses in American History, Public History, and Digital History and is affiliated with the Center for Archives and Digital History.
Brian Medley received his PHD in 2025. Brian wrote his dissertation, “Ghosts of Navassa: Race and Violence at the Heart of America’s Guano Empire,” under the direction of Professor Rosemarie Zagarri. After a long career at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, he began a new job in June 2026 as the Historian for Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, CO.
Benjamin D. Brands received his PHD in 2025. He wrote his dissertation, “Born Leaders and Kriegsspielers: War, Leadership, and Education in the US Army, 1880-1910,” under the direction of Professor Christopher Hamner. He will continue in his position as Historian for the American Battle Monuments Commission in Arlington, VA.