LAUNCHED IN AUTUMN 2021, the Leaders and Leadership in History (LLIH) Fellows Program brings together exceptional history majors and minors who are interested in furthering their leadership competencies. Inspired by an initial grant from Jon Hoffman, the LLIH program has received additional funding from the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Career and Professional Success.
The 10-12 LLIH scholars meet monthly with OSU alumni who serve as leaders in their diverse professional fields. Speakers have included General John M. Murray, the first commanding general of United States Army Future Command; Andrea Brookover, inaugural Executive Director of the State of Ohio’s Commission for Holocaust and Genocide Education and Memorialization; Tobi Skilken Gold, Chief Executive Officer of Skilken Gold Properties; Gretchen Klingler, Veterans Outreach Manager for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition; and Michael Flam, a lawyer and former Director of Legal Affairs for a global manufacturer of building products. Fellows also meet in small groups with visitors to the OSU campus. Indeed, the 2022 calendar began with a small group of fellows meeting Jon Hoffman at the OSU Faculty Club for lunch.
In addition to spending time with leaders in their field, fellows also work on professional development. They attend private workshops concerning the application process for competitive fellowships; work on their resumes and networking skills; learn how to best take advantage of mentoring programs; and meet with faculty and staff to discuss short- and long-term professional goals. Most significant, each fellow benefits from a mentoring program that pairs students with faculty mentors. Each LLIH fellow also receives a $500 scholarship.
LLIH fellows apply for the program in the early fall and are selected by a Departmental subcommittee composed of faculty and staff. LLIH fellows are enthusiastic about the impact the program has had on them. “My experience defined my first year at OSU,” wrote Maya Goldenberg, a senior majoring in history and minoring in both development studies and city and regional planning. “As a transfer student, I began the year feeling unconnected. LLIH was instrumental in helping me create social and professional connections within my new OSU community. Through the fellowship, I made friends, but I also found amazing mentors in OSU’s History Department.” From Nathanael Swaert, a history major with minors in geography and philosophy: “I believe the program to be an integral experience to my current career plans. Being able to talk with accomplished individuals has allowed me to network, which would otherwise be impossible. These conversations have opened up a window into my future career, giving me an opportunity to better prepare for the future.”
“The History Department is committed to thinking creatively and holistically about the ways in which we can best serve History Department undergraduates who aspire to positions of leadership,” asserted program director, Robin Judd. “It is humbling to spend time with these remarkable students who are so eager to take advantage of everything that OSU has to offer.”
If interested in learning more about the LLIH program, please contact program director, Robin Judd at judd.18@osu.edu. ■
Written by Robin Judd, Associate Professor of History
A Word from Jon Hoffman...
Please share with us your relationship to, or connection with, the Department of History.
I received my MA degree in military history at Ohio State in 1989, going through the program under Drs. Allan R. Millett, Williamson Murray, and John F. Guilmartin, Jr.—three of the best scholars in the field. In 2011, I participated in the inaugural alumni tour for the World War II Study Abroad program, and then established a scholarship to enable students to participate in this tremendous educational experience.
What inspired you to give to the Leaders and Leadership in History Fellow Program, or more generally, in support of leadership development for history students at Ohio State?
My interest in leadership developed from three separate sources. I spent a career in the Marine Corps, an institution that prizes leadership above all other qualities and goes to great lengths to inculcate effective traits and principles of leadership in its officers and enlisted personnel. In my years as a Marine, I dealt with leadership issues on a daily basis, applying theories to practical situations. As a military historian, I have focused on researching and writing biographies of Marine Corps leaders, becoming very interested in the history of leadership. In my civilian career with the Department of Defense, I have served in leadership roles in the historical programs of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Army, and the Marine Corps. In that capacity, I have observed that graduate school does a great job educating students in the historical craft and in preparing them to become professors, but does not necessarily teach them how to manage an organization, whether it be an academic department or a historical office or any kind of entity. When Dr. Levi approached me with his idea for a leadership program, his initiative thus fell on very fertile ground! It has enabled me to give back to The Ohio State History Department in an area that dovetails perfectly with my own life and my major interests.
