ACHLS Faculty and staff

Michael B. Chesson, Ph.D.
Dean and Founding Professor
Phone: 603.458.5145 ext. 10
chesson@achls.org

Michael B. Chesson was born in Richmond, Virginia. He attended The College of William and Mary, graduating in 1969 with an A.B. and "high honors" in history. He served in the U. S. Navy, 1970-71, and continued in the Naval Reserve from which he retired in 2005 as a captain. Following active duty, Chesson enrolled at The Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and began graduate work under the direction of the late Professor David Herbert Donald. When Professor Donald left for Harvard University, Chesson followed, receiving his Ph.D. in 1978.

His first book, Richmond After the War, 1865-1890, was published by the Virginia State Library (now the Library of Virginia) in 1981. It was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won the Museum of the Confederacy's Jefferson Davis prize in 1982 for the best book on the Civil War era. His second book, co-edited with Professor of Romance Languages Leslie J. Roberts, University of Southern Indiana, was Exile in Richmond: The Confederate Journal of Henri Garidel (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001), which won the Founders Award from the Museum of the Confederacy in 2002 for the best edition of a primary source. Chesson is one of only two historians to win both of these awards. His third book, an edition of Dr. J. Franklin Dyer's The Journal of a Civil War Surgeon(University of Nebraska Press, 2003) earned glowing reviews from Civil War historians, medical doctors, and historians of science. Chesson has written many articles and dozens of book reviews.

Professor Chesson taught the Civil War and Reconstruction, American Slavery, the Old South, both parts of the U. S. survey, and a variety of graduate and undergraduate seminars at the University of Massachusetts–Boston.

Professor Chesson's blog posts can be found on the ACHLS Blog, The American History News Network.

MAUREEN C. MOONEY, J.D.
Associate Dean
Phone: 603.458.5145 ext. 11
mooney@achls.org

A graduate of The Thomas More College and the Massachusetts School of Law, Maureen C. Mooney served three terms in the New Hampshire House of Representatives where she served as an Assistant Minority Leader, a member of the House Rules Committee, and a three-term member of the Judiciary Committee, where she was appointed Clerk of the Committee. She has sponsored and co-sponsored significant legislation in many areas, chaired subcommittees on important issues and has been a delegate to state and national conventions.

Ms. Mooney serves on the Advisory Board of the Academy of the Holy Family in Baltic, Connecticut and is a trustee of The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. In 2006, she was named one of the New Hampshire Union Leader's "40 Under Forty," which recognizes outstanding New Hampshire residents under the age of 40.

ANDREA DEFUSCO-SULLIVAN
Assistant Dean and Director of the Writing Program
Phone: 603.458.5145 ext. 15
defusco@achls.org

Andrea DeFusco-Sullivan, who graduated summa cum laude from Merrimack College with a B.A. in English, is also a summa cum laude graduate of Boston College's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where she was honored with the Teaching Excellence award. She has been teaching all levels of college English, from writing seminars to specialized literature courses, since 1991. She has published pedagogical articles in The Hemingway Review, published a literary biography of Robert Frost, and a guide to Hamlet.

DeFusco-Sullivan is currently on the faculty at Boston College, and was the Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at BC from 1999-2008.

She is bi-cultural and bilingual in Spanish and English, and for two decades has worked with a diverse student body. She is a native and resident of Methuen, Massachusetts.

Professor Defusco-Sullivan's blog posts can be found on the ACHLS blog, The American History News Network.

DAVID W. FAGERSTROM, SR.
Professor of Economic History
Phone: 603.458.5145 ext. 15
david.fagerstrom@achls.org

David Fagerstrom combines decades of practical business experience with seven years of teaching economics, both at the graduate and undergraduate level. He graduated with highest honors from University of Massachusetts at Lowell and earned his MBA at Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University. His empathy for continuing education students stems from earning all his degrees while working full-time days. He lives in Salem, NH, is married and has one son.

After graduation from Suffolk University he continued working full-time days and taught for four years nights at New Hampshire College. Courses included Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing and several other general business subjects. In 2007 he returned to teaching (while still working full-time days). At Southern New Hampshire University – Salem Center he teaches Micro and Macro Economics as well as Money and Banking and Managerial Economics. He also teaches Micro and Macro Economics at Northern Essex Community College.

Professor Fagerstrom's blog posts can be found on the ACHLS blog, The American History News Network.

Kimberly A. Whitworth .
Professor of American Constitutional History
Phone: 781.279.4819
kimberlywhitworth@verizon.net

Kimberly A. Whitworth received her Juris Doctorate in 1997 from Suffolk University Law School. She maintains a solo law practice North of Boston, concentrated in areas of real property and business. An active member of the Old Concord Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ms. Whitworth has commenced graduate study in history, with a concentration in Early Colonial New England.

Bob West
Recruiting Officer
bob.west@achls.org

Bob is a life long resident of Salem, New Hampshire and graduated from Salem High School. He holds a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire - Durham. Prior to joining the Admissions team Bob had 26 years experience associated with the supermarket distribution industry primarily in purchasing and account management. In addition Bob has over 5 years experience as a licensed representative in the financial services industry.

LAWRENCE R. VELVEL
Founding Dean
velvel@achls.org

Lawrence R. Velvel is the Founding Dean of the American College of History and Legal Studies, the Founding Dean of Massachusetts School of Law and a professor of law. Mr. Velvel is a 1963 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he served on the law review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He was a law professor from 1966-1978, first at the University of Kansas and then at Catholic University. He has been a partner in major law firms in Washington, D.C., and was the first chief counsel of an organization established to write United States Supreme Court briefs in support of state and local governments.

He has been active in Supreme Court litigation, constitutional law, antitrust law and complex litigation. He is the author of a book dealing with constitutional aspects of the Vietnam war, of many law review articles, and of articles for legal and daily newspapers. He has written numerous United States Supreme Court briefs, is editor of the MSLAW journal called The Long Term View, and serves as a host and executive producer of MSLAW's book discussion television show, Books of Our Time, which is carried by television stations nationwide. He writes a leading political blog called "Velvel On National Affairs;" his blogs have been published in three books, Blogs From The Liberal Standpoint: 2004-2005, An Enemy of the People: The Unending Battle Against Conventional Wisdom, and the just published America: 2008. The first two of these books respectively won a Bronze Medal from ForeWord Magazine, a magazine which librarians use to determine what books to recommend to readers, and a Gold Medal from the Independent Publishers Association, a major organization of independent book publishers.

MICHAEL L. COYNE
Founding Associate Dean
coyne@achls.org

Michael L. Coyne is the Founding Associate Dean of the American College of History and Legal Studies, and the Associate Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law. He is a graduate of Boston Latin School, Boston State College, and Suffolk University Law School. He practiced law in Boston for many years representing clients in civil litigation matters in state and federal courts. He has been a trial attorney for many years and specializes in complex litigation. He is the author of Modern Procedural Remedies and the co-author of Trial Prep for Paralegals: Effective Case Management & Support to Attorneys in Preparation for Trial published by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, the author of many articles and was previously a lecturer for a national bar review company. He also serves as Associate Producer of MSLAW's television shows and the Co-Director of Massachusetts School of Law's nationally recognized Trial Advocacy Program.

LYNN BOWAB
Acting Finance Director
FinanceDirector@achls.org

Ms. Bowab serves as ACHLS's Acting Director of Financial Aid and Student Services. Her responsibilities include all aspects of MSLAW accounting practices, as well as Student Services, encompassing financial aid and tuition related matters.

SHUKLA BISWAS
Acting Librarian
info@achls.org

Ms. Biswas is ACHLS's Technical Services Librarian. She received her M.S. in Information Science from Simmons College and her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Delhi. She has more than 20 years of experience in academic, corporate, and public libraries.