043 STAPLES CHOSEN TO LEAD HISTORY DEPARTMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 20, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu

STAPLES CHOSEN TO LEAD HISTORY DEPARTMENT AFTER NATIONAL SEARCH
New Chairwoman Has Distinguished Commitment to Teaching & Research, Dean Says

(MURFREESBORO)—Dr. Amy Staples, a member of MTSU’s faculty since 1998, has been named chairwoman of the university’s Department of History, which currently has 64 faculty members and 410 majors.
A native of Lockport, N.Y., Staples specializes in post-1945 U.S. history and U.S. diplomatic history and teaches courses on World War II and the Vietnam War. She also previously served as the undergraduate director for the university’s history program.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Amy Staples to her new assignment as chair of the MTSU history department after a vigorous national search to fill the position,” said Dr. John McDaniel, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
“Dr. Staples has a distinguished record of accomplishment in the history department as an innovative teacher, with course development in experiential courses and graduate seminars, and a serious commitment to departmental and university service, including a recent stint on the MTSU Graduate Council and participation in our grant-funded Teaching American History Project,” he observed.
A resident of Murfreesboro, Staples said one of her short-term goals for the department, which has an enrollment of about 7,000 students per academic year, is to see the first student graduate from MTSU with a Ph.D. in public history—a program established in fall 2005—during the upcoming December 2007 commencement ceremony.
Beyond this, “Some of my longer-term department goal are to develop stronger ties with our alumni and to develop a stronger extracurricular support network for our history majors … (such as) workshops on career and graduate school opportunities, resources for our majors doing their student teaching and an annual conference for students to present their research,” she said.
McDaniel said Staples’ own commitment to research is reflected in her newly published monograph titled The Birth of Development (Kent State University Press) and her edited manuscript on the death penalty in Tennessee, which is in progress.
“Dr. Staples brings energy, enthusiasm and a fresh perspective to the chair position in history, and I could not be more pleased with her appointment,” McDaniel said.
Additionally, he noted, “Amy is the first ‘permanent’ female chair for the history department,” replacing Dr. Jan Leone, who served as interim department chairwoman for the past 18 months. Staples is the fourth chairwoman currently serving within the liberal arts college, which has a total of 11 departments.
She earned her B.A. and B.S. degrees from Bonaventure University in 1991 and ’93, respectively, and her Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1998. For more information about the Department of History at MTSU, please visit its Web site at http://www.mtsu.edu/~history/.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with Staples regarding her recent academic appointment, or to secure a jpeg for editorial use, please e-mail Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU at lrollins@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2919.