David Stebenne earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1982, a J.D. and an M.A. in 1986, and a Ph.D. in 1991, all from Columbia University. He is a member of the Maryland bar, and a specialist in modern American political and legal history. He has taught at Ohio State since 1993.
Professor Stebenne has written three books. The first was Arthur J. Goldberg: New Deal Liberal (Oxford University Press, 1996), a study of the rise and decline of New Deal era liberalism as seen from the perspective of one of its leading
figures. The second is entitled Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years (Indiana University Press, 2006). It is a study of Arthur Larson, the chief theoretician of Eisenhower-era Republicanism. This book explains the kind of moderate conservatism that arose in response to the New Deal, and the reasons for the decline of that point of view during the 1960's, 70's and '80's. Modern Republican won the 2007 publication award of the Ohio Academy of History and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's book of the year award. Stebenne's third book, which was co-authored with Joseph R. Mitchell, is a history of Columbia, Maryland, the nationally known "new town" created by developer James Rouse. This book, which is entitled New City Upon A Hill: A History of Columbia, Maryland (The History Press, 2007), traces Columbia's story since its beginnings in the early 1960's.
Professor Stebenne has also published articles and essays on the post-World War II social contract in the U.S., the media-military relationship in American history, the role of the media in U.S. presidential elections, the history of the Gannett Center for Media Studies (co-authored with Everette E. Dennis), and the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. More recently Professor Stebenne published an article entitled "Thomas J. Watson and the Business-Government Relationship, 1933-1956," in the March 2005 issue of Enterprise and Society; and an article entitled "IBM's 'New Deal': Employment Policies of the International Business Machines Corporation, 1933-1956," in the Winter 2005 issue of the Journal of the Historical Society.
In keeping with his interdisciplinary interests, Professor Stebenne teaches courses in OSU's History Department and Law School. He is co-chair of the Modern U. S. History Seminar at Ohio State and chair of the Ohio Legal History Seminar, and a member of the advisory board of the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies at Ohio State.
Professor Stebenne has received grants and fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the American Historical Association, the Harry S. Truman Library Institute, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, Ohio State's Center for Labor Research, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, and Ohio State's College of Humanities. He is now working on a political and legal history of the United States from the 1930's through the 1960's.
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