About

The association is governed by its members who elect a president, president-elect, council, and nominating committee. The latter consists of five members, each serving a two-year term. The council consists of the president, president-elect, executive director, seven regularly elected members (serving three-year terms). Past presidents and executive directors serve two years succeeding their terms of office.

WHA Constitution and Bylaws

President

President-Elect

Executive Director

  • Kevin Fernlund
  • University of Missouri, St. Louis
  • Office: 314-516-7282
  • wha@umsl.edu

Council

  • Liping Zhu (2010)
  • Eastern Washington University
  • Office: 509-359-4703
  • lzhu@ewu.edu
  • Virginia Scharff (2010)
  • University of New Mexico
  • Office: 505-277-4344
  • vscharff@unm.edu
  • David G. Gutierrez (2011)
  • University of California, San Diego
  • Office: 858-534-3040
  • dggutierrez@ucsd.edu

Ex-Officio

2011 Program Committee

Benjamin Johnson, Co-Chair, Southern Methodist University

Patricia Loughlin, Co-Chair, University of Central Oklahoma

Julia María Schiavone Camacho, University of Texas, El Paso

Brian Collier, University of Notre Dame

Wendel Eckford, Los Angeles City College

Susan Ferber, Oxford University Press

Suzzanne Kelley, North Dakota State University

Phoebe Kropp, University of Colorado, Boulder

Lori Lahlum, Minnesota State University, Mankato

K. Tsianina Lomawaima, University of Arizona

Julie Maiorana, University of California, San Diego

Sheila McManus, University of Lethbridge

Shirley Ann Moore, California State University, Sacramento

Rick Moss, African American Museum and Library at Oakland

Roger Nichols, University of Arizona

Raúl Ramos, University of Houston

Linda Reese, East Central University

Theresa Salazar, The Bancroft Library

Greg Smoak, Colorado State University

Sam Truett, University of New Mexico

Sponsors

  • A. K. Smiley Public Library – Redlands, California
  • Amon Carter Museum – Fort Worth
  • Arizona Historical Society
  • Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records
  • Autry Museum of Western Heritage – Los Angeles
  • Bancroft Library – University of California, Berkeley
  • Boise National Forest
  • Boise State University
  • Buffalo Bill Historical Center – Cody, Wyoming
  • Center for Transportation Studies – University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Charles Redd Center for Western Studies – Brigham Young University
  • Coldwell Banker Heart of Oklahoma – Norman, Oklahoma
  • Colorado Historical Society
  • Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
  • DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
  • Denver Public Library
  • Godfrey Memorial Library – Middletown, Connecticut
  • Historical Research Associates – Missoula, Montana
  • History Compass, LLC
  • The Huntington Library
  • JRP Historical Consulting
  • Kit Carson Home & Museum – Taos, New Mexico
  • Longmont Museum & Cultural Center – Longmont, Colorado
  • Missouri National Recreational River
  • Montana Historical Society
  • Mormon History Association
  • Museum of the Rockies
  • Nebraska State Historical Society
  • Nevada Historic Preservation
  • New Mexico State Records Center & Archives
  • Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society
  • Oklahoma State University, Department of History
  • Pepperdine University, History Program
  • Saint Louis Mercantile Library
  • Salt River Projects
  • Society of California Pioneers
  • Stark Museum of Art
  • Theodore Roosevelt Nature & History Association
  • True West Publishing, Inc. – True West Magazine
  • University of Missouri-St. Louis, School of Education
  • University of Missouri-St. Louis, Department of History
  • University of New Mexico, Department of History
  • University of Oklahoma, Department of History
  • University of Oklahoma Libraries
  • University of Utah Press
  • University of Washington, Department of History
  • University of Wyoming Libraries
  • Utah State University
  • Western Writers of America

2010 Local Arrangements

  • Ronald James, Co-Chair, National Park System Advisory Board
  • William Rowley, Co-Chair, University of Nevada, Reno

Comstock Historic District Commission

  • Michael “Bert” Bedeau

Historic Fourth Ward School Museum

  • Susan James

Natural Resources Conservation Service

  • J. Douglas Helms

Nevada Historical Society

  • Mella Harmon

Nevada Museum of Art

  • Collin Robertson

Truckee Meadows Community College

  • Sharon Lowe

University of Nevada, Reno

  • Alicia Barber
  • Jen Huntleysmith
  • Peter Kopp
  • Elizabeth Raymond
  • Thomas E. Smith

University of Nevada Press

  • Joanne O’ Hare, Director

Washoe County School District

  • Sue Davis,  Director of the Teaching American History Grant

WHA Financial Advisory Committee

WHA Nominating Committee

  • William Bauer, Jr. Chair (2010)
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Office: 702-895-0918
  • wbauer@unlv.edu
  • Barbara O. Reyes (2010)
  • University of New Mexico
  • Office: 505-277-4133
  • breyes3@unm.edu
  • Marsha Weisiger (2011)
  • New Mexico State University
  • Office: (575) 646-4037
  • mweisige@nmsu.edu

Membership Committee

  • Francis Flavin, Chair, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
  • Gordon Morris Bakken, California State University, Fullerton
  • Patricia Nelson Limerick, University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Jennifer Denetdale, University of New Mexico
  • Holly Arnold Kinney, Tesoro Foundation/ The Fort Restaurant, Denver, Colorado
  • David Rich Lewis, Utah State University/Western Historical Quarterly
  • Patricia Loughlin, University of Central Oklahoma
  • Sterling Fluharty, Graduate Student Representative

WHA Technology Task Force

  • Paula Petrik, Chair, George Mason University
  • Nathan Wilson , University of Tulsa
  • Douglas Seefeldt , Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Jeremy Boggs, George Mason University
  • Leslie Working, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Francis Flavin, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.

Teaching Western History Committee

  • Brian S. Collier, Co-Chair, University of Notre Dame
  • Lindsey Passenger, Co-Chair, Northern Arizona University
  • John Bieter, Boise State University
  • Paivi Hoikkala, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
  • William Destefano, Tucson, Arizona
  • Diane Wolfe, Educational Service Unit #2, Fremont, Nebraska
  • Ron Briley, Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Berta Simic, University of Missouri – St. Louis
  • Annette Atkins, St. John’s University

WHA Development Committee

  • Laurie Arnold, Chair, University of Notre Dame
  • Brian Collier, University of Notre Dame
  • Melody Miyamoto, Arizona State University

WHA Director & Staff

  • Kevin Fernlund, Executive Director
  • University of Missouri, St. Louis
  • Office: 314-516-7282
  • wha@umsl.edu
  • Betty Jo Ditmeyer
  • Membership Coordinator
  • WHA
  • Office: 314-516-7270
  • wha@umsl.edu
  • Laura Diel
  • Events Coordinator
  • 315-516-7242
  • E-mail: wha@umsl.edu
  • Matt Morris
  • Graduate Research Assistant (WHA Book Corral)
  • wha@umsl.edu
  • Berta Simic
  • Graduate Research Assistant (WHA Awards Program)
  • wha@umsl.edu

Past Secretaries & Executive Directors

  • John Porter Bloom, 1961-1967
  • Arrell M. Gibson, 1968-1970
  • Everett L. Cooley, 1971-1973
  • William D. Rowley, 1973-1990
  • Paul Andrew Hutton, 1990-2006
  • Kevin J. Fernlund, 2006-