Professor M. Houston Johnson V specializes in the history of the 20th century United States, with an emphasis on aviation history and the New Deal era. He teaches courses including The Progressive Era, The New Deal, War and Society in 20th Century United States History, The Vietnam War, and Historical Methodology; he also offers capstone seminars on the New Deal Era and World War II. His book, Taking Flight: The Foundations of American Commercial Aviation, 1918-1938 (Texas A&M University Press, 2019), explores the federal government’s role in promoting the development of commercial aviation between the world wars. He has published articles on aviation infrastructure in the Journal of Policy History and the Journal of East Tennessee History; essays on the air war in the European theater of World War II and Lieutenant General Leonard Gerow’s role in the Normandy campaign are forthcoming with Oxford University Press and Global War Studies, respectively. Johnson also served as the Associate Editor of the Sage Encyclopedia of Military Science.

Johnson came to VMI in 2012 after receiving degrees from Roanoke College and the University of Tennessee. The Virginia Military Institute has recognized his teaching with the Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. ’26 Research Award (2017; 2019), and his scholarship with the Jackson-Hope Prize for Excellence in Published Scholarly Work (2020). Johnson has served as the Head of the Department of History since 2020; his other activities include service as a Program Director for the Olmsted Foundation study abroad program.

Professor and Department Head
History

Jonathan S. Jones teaches advanced courses on the United States Civil War and Reconstruction, nineteenth century U.S. history, and the history of medicine, as well as the two-semester History of the United States sequence. Before joining the History Department in Fall 2021, Jones was the inaugural Postdoctoral Scholar in Civil War History at Penn State’s George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Dallas Baptist University, a master’s degree in history from Texas Christian University, and a doctorate in history from Binghamton University (2020). Jones’s research investigates the complex social, cultural, and health legacies of the Civil War, including opiate addiction and disability among veterans. His first book, “Opium Slavery: The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis,” is under advance contract with University of North Carolina Press. The manuscript is derived from Jones’s dissertation, which won the 2021 Anne J. Bailey Dissertation Prize from the Society of Civil War Historians and the inaugural Chancellor Distinguished PhD Graduate Dissertation Award from SUNY in 2021. Jones’s research has appeared in publications including The Journal of the Civil War Era, North Carolina Historical Review, Washington Post, Slate, and Vice, among others. Jones’s public scholarship has also been featured on various public radio, television, and podcast programs. Jones is a first-generation college graduate originally from North Texas, where he taught public school before obtaining his PhD.