The History Department at the Ohio State University aspires to distinction in scholarship, teaching, and service. As a top-tier department in an eminent public university, we seek to advance the highest standards of our discipline. Because we believe that research inspires great teaching, our mission is to promote the finest historical scholarship, and to offer both graduate and undergraduate students the most rigorous and intellectually challenging education. Espousing the values of a varied and collegial community of historians, we explore connections across areas, eras, and themes. We strive to provide comprehensive and challenging understandings of the complexity of the human past to audiences across the state, the nation, and the world at large. Learn more about our department's inner workings by reading our Pattern of Administration.

Originally formed in 1879 as the Department of History and Philosophy, our department has a long and varied history. In 1969, Francis P. Weisenburger wrote, "A Brief History of Our Department," which outlines our early years. 

Among other awards, the following faculty have won the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

2025 - Yiğit Akin and Margaret Sumner
2022 - Theodora Dragostinova
2018 - Greg Anderson
2018 - Bart Elmore
2015 - Robin Judd
2013 - David Hoffmann
2012 - Hasan Kwame Jeffries
2011 - Nicholas B. Breyfogle
2011 - Scott Levi
2009 - Randolph Roth
2009 - David H. Steigerwald
2006 - Geoffrey Parker
2005 - Mitchell Lerner
1998 - Mark Grimsley 

View other awards our faculty has received.

2026-2027 Appointments

Department of History Officers

Chair - Nick Breyfogle

Vice Chair - David Brakke
Director of Graduate Studies - Yiğit Akın (AY25-27)
Undergraduate Teaching Committee Chair - Daniel Rivers (2026-2028)
Honors Coordinator - TBA
Regional Campus Coordinator -  Chip Blake
Lecturer Liaison - Jim Harris
Library Coordinator -  Matt Goldish
Graduate Placement Officer -  Ryan Fontanilla
Undergraduate Enhancement Officer (and LIHH)  -  Elizabeth Dillenburg, Bart Elmore, and Dodie McDow
Grievance Resource Officer -  Birgitte Søland