George McGovern
A war hero, 22-year U.S. congressman and presidential candidate, George McGovern will long be remembered for his courage in speaking out against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, his friendship and respect for the common man, and his work on behalf of American farmers and hungry children throughout the world.

In 1956 McGovern was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served until 1960 when President John F. Kennedy named him the first director of the Food for Peace Program and special assistant to the president. In this position he made the first offer of U.S. assistance that paved the way for the establishment of the World Food Programme. Throughout his congressional career, McGovern was instrumental in creating programs to alleviate hunger, including Food for Peace, the school lunch program and food stamps.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed him ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, and in 2000 honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2001, he was appointed the first United Nations global ambassador on world hunger.

McGovern is a native of South Dakota and a graduate of Dakota Wesleyan University where he was also a history professor.

Ahrar Ahmad
Ahrar Ahmad received his Ph.D. in political science from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill., and has been teaching at Black Hills State University, in Spearfish, S.D., since 1992.  He teaches mostly in the areas of comparative politics and international relations.  He has published widely, and presented papers at many academic conferences on issues related to development and underdevelopment in South Asia, the relationship between Islam and democracy, and the role of non-governmental organizations in a globalized world.  He has received the Distinguished Faculty of the Year at Black Hills State, was a Senior Fulbright scholar in 2007-08, and was honored with the Carnegie Award (Teaching) for South Dakota in 2007.

Jason A. Heppler
Jason A. Heppler is a Ph.D. student specializing in the 20th century North American West, the history of technology and digital history. He currently serves as the project manager for the William F. Cody Digital Archive at the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned his B.A. in history at South Dakota State University and his M.A. in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Gretchen Heefner
Connecticut College

John Husmann
John Husmann is associate professor of history at Dakota Wesleyan University.   Dr. Husmann’s dissertation was a comparative history of tree-planting traditions in Nebraska and South Australia. He continues to conduct research in both environmental and American Indian history. In addition to serving as chair of the department of history, he serves as the faculty advisor to Oyate Ho Waste, the American Indian club at DWU.

Dr. Husmann received his bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in Minnesota, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Joel Johnson
Augustana College

Jon Lauck
Office of Sen. John Thune

Catherine McNicol Stock
Connecticut College

John E. Miller
South Dakota State University

Paula M. Nelson
University of Wisconsin-Platt

William C. Pratt
University of Nebraska-Omaha

Jon D. Schaff
Jon D. Schaff has taught at Northern State University in Aberdeen since 2001. He as published on the domestic policy of the Lincoln administration, the benefits of the Electoral College, the problems of campaign finance regulations and on hate crimes policy. He is currently working on projects involving the influence of Alexander Hamilton on Lincoln's political thought and on visions of progress in the works of Nebraska novelist Willa Cather.

A native of Rochester, Minn., Dr. Schaff received his bachelor's degree from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn. He went on to earn an M.A. in political science at the University of Wyoming and his Ph.D. at Loyola University Chicago.

Donald C. Simmons Jr.
Donald Simmons joined the Dakota Wesleyan University faculty in 2006 as the first full-time director of the McGovern Center and the founding chairman of the DWU Department of Leadership and Public Service. He now serves as the dean of the College of Leadership and Public Service and Graduate Studies. A native of Mississippi, Dr.Simmons received his Ph.D. in history and international studies from the University of Denver. Most of his research has focused on the displacement of peoples throughout history, primarily as a result of wars and conflict. He has published numerous books and journal articles and appeared as a guest on many national television and radio programs.

Frank Van Nuys
Frank Van Nuys is associate professor of history at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. He earned a B.A. in history from South Dakota State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. He is the author of “Americanizing the West: Race, Immigrants, and Citizenship, 1890-1930,” published by the University Press of Kansas in 2002. Dr. Van Nuys is currently researching the history of predatory mammal control in the American West.

Donald Watt
Donald Watt, McGovern Center Fellow, was previously vice president for academic affairs at Dakota Wesleyan University.  After completing his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, and before joining Dakota Wesleyan, he was associate professor of political science and an academic dean at Southern Arkansas University and a visiting professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University (Russia).  His writing has been included in 22 academic publications, plus articles in the Mitchell Daily Republic regarding insights gained from attending the 2008 national conventions.  He has presented papers on topics in political science and religion at regional and national conferences.