Kevin T. Brady, Ph.D. has founded and serves as President of the American Institute for History Education (AIHE). Dr. Brady directs and services roughly 50 Teaching American History grant projects, conducts teacher workshops and colloquia for the Institute, serves as editor and project manager of the NJ Italian, Italian-American inclusion curriculum for the State of New Jersey and writes curricula for national organizations.

Dr. Brady has served as an assistant professor of education at Georgian Court University and as the Director of High School Operations at the Rutgers/LEAP Academy University High School. He had also served as Director of the Rutgers University Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership’s Institute for Best Practices and Innovations in Urban Education at Rutgers University, Camden, prior to his appointment to LEAP.

Previously, Dr. Brady held the position of Vice President of Education Programs at the Bill of Rights Institute in Washington , DC . He authored and directed the production of the Bill of Rights and You: Teacher’s Guide, numerous historical and educational articles, lessons, curricula, and newsletters. He also coordinated the content of the Institute’s interactive educational website. Additionally, Dr. Brady designed and facilitated teacher seminars and teacher workshops across the nation. He created and ran the Bill of Rights Institute’s Summer Institute for Teachers at George Mason University, School of Law.

Dr. Brady taught Social Studies in both New Jersey and Philadelphia . He has planned, produced, and taught courses in many subject areas, including U. S. History, Western Civilization, World History, Ethnic Studies, Law, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, and Philosophy. In addition to teaching high school, he served as an adjunct professor of history at Temple University, Camden County College and Cumberland County College . On the collegiate level, Dr. Brady has taught U. S. History and World History, as well as Western Civilization, Irish/Irish-American History, and various Education courses.

Dr. Brady helped generate the New Jersey Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks for the Core Content Standards. He also contributed to, helped to produce, and edited the guidelines and the historical outline for the New Jersey Social Studies High School Proficiency Assessments and the Frameworks’ historical outline. Presently, Dr. Brady sits on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies and the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Council of History Education.

Dr. Brady received both his Doctorate and Masters Degree in history from Temple University. He earned his Bachelors Degree, with high honors, from the University of Scranton, where he majored in history, with minors in philosophy and theology.

Born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, author, educator, and distinguished lecturer, Dr. Yohuru Williams, has worked with more than forty school districts on Teaching American History Grants around the nation from Alabama to Alaska.  He is one of AIHE's most requested presenters.

Dr. Williams is currently Associate Professor of History and Co-Director of Black Studies at Fairfield University. He received his Ph.D. from Howard University in 1998.

Dr. Williams is the author of Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights Black Power and Black Panthers in New Haven (Brandywine Press, 2000) and A Constant Struggle: African-American History from 1865 to the Present Documents and Essays (Kendall Hunt, 2002). His most recent book, In Search of the Black Panther, which he co-edited with Jama Lazerow of Wheelock College, was published in 2006 by Duke University Press. He also served as general editor for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History's 2002 and 2003 Black History Month publications, The Color Line Revisited (Tapestry Press, 2002) and The Souls of Black Folks: Centennial Reflections (Africa World Press, 2003). Dr. Williams served as an advisor on the popular civil rights reader Putting the Movement Back into teaching Civil Rights.

Dr. Williams' scholarly articles have appeared in The Black Scholar, The Journal of Black Studies, Pennsylvania History, Delaware History, and the Black History Bulletin. He has another forthcoming book from Duke University Press on the Black Panther Party which he also co-edited with Jama Lazerow of Wheelock College entitled Liberated Territory: toward a Local History of the Black Panther Party. Dr. Williams is also presently finishing up a single authored book entitled Six Degrees of Segregation: Lynching, Capital Punishment and Jim Crow Justice 1865-1930.

Marnie Meyer grew up in South Jersey and graduated with a BA in English from Rowan College of NJ.  After spending nearly 10 years as an office manager, she started her own business as a freelance bookkeeper and provided business management, bookkeeping, and payroll services for a number of small businesses in the South Jersey area.

Marnie began working as the Administrative Director for the Institute on a full time basis in June of 2006, and as such, she overseas the daily operations of the AIHE office.

 Dr. Bill Ross is a veteran teacher with over 30 years experience at the middle school, high school, college and graduate levels. As the Director of Professional Development Services for The National Council for History Education, he has been involved in professional development for over eighty Teaching American History Grant programs in 28 states. 

Bill received a doctorate in curriculum and instruction/social studies education from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1990. His dissertation topic dealt with utilizing local history to embellish macro-level American history. Bill's articles, publications and presentations have centered on teaching techniques for the history and geography classroom. His major research interests include local history use in the classroom, oral history, mnemonic devices, humor in the classroom, chronology improvement in students, military history and the relationship between geography and history.  Bill, the 1994 Ohio High School History Teacher of the Year, is an Ohio native and Marine Corps veteran.

Paul Moreno was born in Lynbrook, New York, and attended the public schools there and the State University of New York at Albany, where he earned his B.A. and M.A. in history. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1994, studying American constitutional history under Herman Belz. He worked with the historian at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, DC, and taught at the Sidwell Friends School there. He taught for four years at St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York and has been at Hillsdale College in Michigan since 1999.

Moreno holds the William and Bernice Grewcock Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College. There he teaches Western and American civilization, American diplomatic history, and American constitutional history. He recently held a visiting professorship at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and is a member of the James Madison Society. He has won research awards from the Earhart Foundation, Olin Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is the author of From Direct Action to Affirmative Action: Fair Employment Law and Policy in America, 1933-72 (Baton Rouge, 1997) and Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History (Baton Rouge, 2006). His is working on books about the Michigan Supreme Court and a constitutional history of the New Deal. He has published articles in numerous journals, including the Journal of Southern History, Journal of Policy History, Labor History, and Academic Questions. He lives in Hillsdale with his wife, Lisa, and their four children.

Bob Shamy has devoted 39 years to public school education in New Jersey. He spent the first 32 years as a teacher in grades 4-12, with most of that time devoted to teaching anthropology, archaeology, and social psychology to high school students, and the last 7 years as the District Supervisor for Social Studies and Media with East Brunswick Public Schools.  He has served on numerous state committees and advisory boards working on state standards and social studies related projects. He has received three Fulbright Fellowships to study in China, India and Japan, in addition to having worked on archaeological sites in Lebanon and the United States. In addition to being named Middlesex County Teacher of the Year Bob has won many awards for teaching and curriculum development. Bob is now the Director of Professional Development Services with the American Institute for History Education.

Chris Bradshaw, Director of Cicero Systems, is a graduate of West Chester University. He has been a middle school Social Studies teacher for the past ten years. Beginning his career in the Philadelphia School District, Mr. Bradshaw has spent the past five years teaching in southern New Jersey. Mr. Bradshaw is currently directing the next phase in the development of the cicerohistory.com website.

Cicero^TM: History Beyond the Textbook is an interactive website that provides teachers a multitude of professional development vehicles offering both substantive historical content and superior methods and formulas to bring historical content into the classroom.

 Ms Laureen Hungo, a certified New Jersey teacher, has eleven years of teaching experience on the Elementary and Early Childhood levels. Ms Hungo has spent the last eight years instructing students at Woodland Country Day School, an academically challenging Independent school in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Here, she has taken on several teaching responsibilities from Kindergarten to fourth grade. Laureen served on several committees, including The Long Range Planning Committee, and was the Kindergarten Coordinator. Ms. Hungo also maintained a satellite campus of Woodland Country Day School in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. She served as head teacher and handled administrative duties related to the new campus.

Ms Hungo’s previous teaching experiences included instructing a multi-age classroom of grades three and four at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton, New Jersey. She also worked as a Pre-School and Transitional Kindergarten Teacher at Children’s Garden in Sparta, New Jersey and performed some administrative work.

In addition to her classroom experience, Ms Hungo tutored elementary students for many years in various subjects. She developed and conducted a workshop on Time Management for teachers at a local Pre-School and Child Care Facility. Ms Hungo also began writing lesson plans professionally. The New Jersey Department of Education Italian-American Commission included her lessons in their national curriculum for The New Jersey Department of State. As a result of her experiences, Ms Hungo founded Concepts in Education, a company that specializes in classroom consulting, tutoring, and professional lesson plan writing. She continues to further her own education by attending several workshops and classes.

Ms Hungo’s relationship with the American Institute for History Education has allowed her the opportunity to write lessons for the Liberty CD-ROMs series. She is also their curriculum editor.

 Robert Longo is a veteran teacher and supervisor of Social Studies who has taught 6 th grade through college level, teaching almost all the courses in the Social Studies curriculum, from AP level students to at-risk students in an alternative high school program. As a supervisor he has been active in professional development of teachers and in curriculum design from grades k-12. In one of his teaching assignments, when he could not find a textbook that worked for his course, he wrote his own, liberally interspersed with relevant primary source documents. While at Sparta High School, Mr. Longo succeeded in getting his department’s program recognized by the State of New Jersey as a Holocaust Education Demonstration Site. As co-president of the school’s Technology Committee, he alsowas apresenter at several statewide workshops for teachers. No stranger to historic sites, Mr. Longo has organized numerous field trips to sites throughout the northeast for his classes and for tour groups of visiting students from Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Mr. Longo earned a Master’s Degree in History from Seton Hall University, a Master of Philosophy Degree from New YorkUniversity in American Studies, and numerous additional credits and work experience in Instructional Technology, supervision, American literature, photography, cinema studies and video production from KeanUniversity, RutgersUniversity, EastStroudsburgUniversity and the NewSchool. He also has received extensive training in effective educational methodologies, including Problem Based Learning, AVID, vertical teaming and Dr. Ron Ferguson’s Tripod Project. He is especially interested in developing American history programs combining high expectations of the students and strong content knowledge with learner-active and student-centered activities that generate higher level thinking skills and student interest in the subject beyond the classroom. Not content with high test scores alone, Mr. Longo seeks to ensure that what students learn in their history classes is transferred to their long term memories for future reference as adult citizens.

A native of New Jersey, Mr. Longo now lives with his family in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Matthew Galella joined the staff at the American Institute for History Education in September 2007 following a career in the newspaper and publishing industries.

During his 20 years in newspapers, Mr. Galella served as a reporter, copy editor, layout editor, winter sports columnist and assistant sports editor. He worked for the Ocean County (N.J.) Observer for five years and then spent 15 years at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. During that time, he was selected for a five-month loanership at USA TODAY as a copy editor.

Mr. Galella also worked for nine years as a managing editor and team director for StayWell Custom Communications in Yardley, Pa. In those roles, he oversaw staff and served hospital and managed care clients in producing and publishing their quarterly health and wellness newsletters.

Mr. Galella, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland, resides in Mantua, N.J., with his wife and two children.

Ken Gavin joined the staff at the American Institute for History Education in January of 2007 and serves as Director of Fellowship Programs. Ken came to the Institute after working as a public relations and institutional advancement professional for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary for six years. In those roles he acted as a liaison with local and national media outlets and took a lead role in various fundraising initiatives.

Ken is also an active living historian serving with Company C, 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a Philadelphia-based Civil War reenactment unit that participates in numerous educational programs each year. He is also the current Commander of Anna M. Ross Camp 1, Department of Pennsylvania, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, which is a descendents organization dedicated to historic preservation and commemoration of veterans.

Originally from Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Ken is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minors in American History and Spanish. 

Winnie grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Winnie comes to AIHE with over thirty years of experience working in accounting departments at various businesses.

Mr. Nick DiGregory serves as a Colloquia Site Coordinator for the American Institute for History Education (AIHE).Before joining AIHE; Mr. DiGregory was employed as an instructional supervisor of social studies at Delsea Regional High School District in Franklinville, New Jersey. Mr. DiGregory was also the project director for the Ben Franklin Liberty Fellowship grant, issued by the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with Teaching of American History initiative.   Mr. DiGregory has also served as the instructional supervisor for the English, fine and performing arts, world language, and business departments.  Before working in administration, Mr. DiGregory taught social studies and history courses at Delsea Regional High School.  He has served as a consultant for the New Jersey Social Studies High School Proficiency Assessment Committee.  Mr. DiGregory has also served as a consultant to the Bill of Rights Institute headquartered in Washington, D.C.  He has also been an Advanced Placement reader for the College Board.  Currently, Mr. DiGregory is the vice president of the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies.

Mr. DiGregory holds Bachelors degree in Social Studies education from East Stroudsburg University, a Master's degree in History from West Chester University, and a Masters degree in the Science of Instruction, from Drexel University.  Mr. DiGregory was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society as a result of his graduate work in history.  He has been listed in the U.S. Achievement Academy as an All American Scholar.  Mr. DiGregory has also been listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers and Who's Who in American Education.

Michael B. O’Connell, EdD serves as the Project Director for The James Madison Liberty Fellowship Grant. The grant was awarded to Toms River Regional Schools in July of 2006 and will run until June of 2009. Toms River was awarded just under one million dollars for the three-year period.

Recently retired as the Curriculum Coordinator for the Toms River Regional Schools, Dr. O’Connell spent the past 31 years serving public education as a school principal, social studies supervisor, reading specialist, and classroom teacher.

Currently, Dr. O’Connell is an Adjunct Professor of Graduate Studies in the Ed Leadership Departments of both Kean University and New Jersey City University. In addition, he also serves as an Adjunct Professor of History in the Social Science Department of Ocean County College.

Dr. O’Connell is a frequent presenter both locally and regionally. He serves as a member of the New Pathways to Teaching in New Jersey Council, Ocean County Education Commission, The College Board NJP20 Coalition, The College Board Major School Summit Panel and Northeast Summit Group, Kean University Middle School Council, and the Challenger Mission Council. Additionally, Dr. O’Connell was an original member/writer of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Social Studies.

Mr. Stephen Sokolewicz comes to the American Institute for History Education (AIHE) with 14 years in education.  Steve began his career as a history teacher in the CliftonPublic School system.  After mastering the traditional pedagogical offerings at Clifton, the opportunity to work at the Bergen Academies in Hackensack presented itself.  While expanding his professional craft, Mr. Sokolewicz obtained an MA in educational administration which led him to Jersey City as a District Supervisor of Social Studies and West Essex as Assistant Principal.

In addition to classroom responsibilities, Steve undertook various extra-curricular assignments as they related to the total educational experience.  From coaching to Student Council and Yearbook Advisorships Mr. Sokolewicz firmly believes that children best learn when provided every opportunity to showcase their individual talents.  That thought process surely helped as Mr. Sokolewicz successfully obtained the Teaching American History grant for two districts.

Finally, Mr. Sokolewicz looks forward to creating an environment that will challenge everyone to be the very best they can.  Everyone must have the opportunity to offer suggestions as well as learn the necessary information that will be used for all to excel.

It is an honor to work with the educators at AIHE.  A productive relationship in which both sides will strive to succeed at education's most important goal—creating productive members of our great society—can be achieved.

Jennifer Totten serves as a Fellowship Programs Manager for AIHE.  She graduated in 2006 from Lafayette College with a degree in American Studies and a minor in European History.

Jennifer grew up in South Jersey and is currently living in Philadelphia.  She worked as a records specialist for both Woodcock Washburn and Fox Rothschild during her first year of employment.

Miss Itea Bell, a native of Salem County, New Jersey, started with AIHE in September of 2007. She previously attended Hampton University in Hampton, VA before returning to New Jersey to finish her education. As a student at Rowan University she has continued to cultivate her love of writing as a contributing staff writer for the campus newspaper The Whit. She is also an aspiring author and in the process of writing her first novel; she hopes to have it completed within the next year. She is expecting to graduate with high honors from Rowan in the spring of 2008 with a B.A. in both K-12 Education and Social Studies. Upon her graduation she is planning to attend law school with an area concentration in Civil Rights. "I feel that there are many people who litigate for the rights of students and children. But how many people focus on protecting teachers? As an attorney I would advocate the rights of educators with the same vigor as those whose careers focus on the protection of children." With over eight years of tutoring and after-school teaching experience, Itea is currently focusing her time on the planning aspect of the classroom. At AIHE, she works in the Educational Products Department writing lesson plans and assisting in the editorial process.

Stepfon Wallace was born and raised in Southern New Jersey.  He serves as an Education Programs Associate for the American Institute for History Education.  He received his B.A. in History in the Fall of 2007.  He was brought onto the AIHE staff as a Writer in September of 2007, and was brought on to his current full-time position in the Products Department in January of 2008.  He interned with the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, where he spent the semester cataloguing memorabilia for the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers.  While he continues to write on the CICERO project he has recently begun working on the new AIHE project Amistad.

James was born in Toms River, New Jersey. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in History from Rowan University in the Fall of 2007. During his stay at Rowan, he was both the Inter Greek Council President and Class of 2007 Senior Class Vice President. James began conducting research and writing for the American Institute for History Education in November of 2007 and has come on full time as an Education Programs Associate in January of 2008.

Michael Boggus joined the American Institute for History Education in spring 2008 and is currently researching and writing content on the Amistad project. 

For as long as he can remember, Michael has had a passion for history. After earning numerous awards, Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History with honors at Delaware State University. Seeking to further his career in this field, Michael accepted a fellowship at Southern Illinois University where he served as a graduate teaching assistant for numerous classes in American History while completing his master's degree with honors. 

Upon graduation, Michael's career shifted focus as he entered the corporate world for two years with intentions of pursuing a law degree. Along the way, Michael worked as a history consultant and researcher for the State of Delaware on various African-American history projects. His calling for history was met with his acceptance as a professor at Delaware State University, where he taught American and African-American History courses.

Michael is a resident of Newark, Delaware.

Joe Polcha is a Northeast Pennsylvania native, recently relocating to New Jersey . He attended Scranton Technical High School (business/vocational course) and Lackawanna County Area Vocational Technical School . Continuing education at Star Technical Institute (Computer operation and business applications) as well as Pennsylvania State University and N.E.P.R.I.C. business development centers for business training and credits. Joe recently attended the University of Scranton SBDC to start an independent construction business that he operates on off hours.

Joe has worked for two fortune 500 companies. He serves at at MACtac Scranton facility (a Bemis Company) as Medical Systems Quality Technician and Quality Specialist. Prior to that, he worked as a CNC press brake Operator, a Department Group Leader, and as an independent training consultant for the Suckle Corporation/Global Metal Forms LLC of PA.

While in Northeast Pennsylvania , Joe also worked part time with Josh Jessey Contracting, gaining more experience in the contracting field. He also own owned his own home improvement and repair business for two years.

Larry Greene received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Columbia University. He is Professor of History at Seton Hall University. He is presently the Chair of the Board of the New Jersey (State) Historical Commission. Greene specializes in American History and teaches courses in the areas of the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era, African American History, and the World War II period. He is the co-author of the African American Curriculum Guide and co-editor of Slavery: Its Origins and Legacy. During the 2005-2006 academic year he was a Fulbright fellow at the University of Muenster in Germany where he was a co-organizer of the international conference, "Crossovers: African Americans and Germany."  Professor Greene has held research grants from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and NEH Summer Grants. He is presently working on two books: Disturbing Images, Conflicting Perceptions: The Third Reich Press and the African American Press and Harlem Expatriates in Europe: 1900-1960. He previously served as the chair of the History Department and Director of the Multicultural Program at Seton Hall University. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of African American History (formerly the Journal of Negro History). His articles on various aspects of Harlem life and personalities have appeared in Prospects: An Annual of American Cultural Studies, Telos: A Quarterly Journal of Critical Thought, Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, and Afro-Americans in New York Life and History.

This fall Paul Sommers will enter his final year at Lafayette College where he is majoring in history. Paul is an active member of the Beta-Xi chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honors society, and will complete an honors' thesis on American History of the 1920s in May 2009.  

Paul lives in Wenonah, N.J., and is a 2005 graduate of Gateway Regional High School.