Ross Collins, professor of communication, has been elected second vice president of the American Journalism Historians Association. He was named to the post during the organization’s national meeting Oct. 6-8 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Collins will advance to first vice president next year and president the following year.

The organization, which was founded in 1981, has a goal to advance education and research in mass communication history. Members work to raise historical standards through conventions, conferences, committees, speakers and publications.

He said the effort can be challenging, because many people do not understand historical study.

“It’s not about dull dates and dead people, not really. It’s the stories of people who did things in the past, and how those things affect us today. I hope in this role I can encourage more people to see how much they can enjoy learning about our media's past—and how much better insight they’ll gain about their own world. History is fun,” said Collins, who served on the association’s board from 2007-10 and 2012-13.

Collins joined NDSU’s faculty in 1993. He earned bachelor’s degrees in history and mass communications at Minnesota State University Moorhead, his master’s degree in cultural history from the University of Warwick, Coventry, England; his certificate of French studies at the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France; and his doctorate in journalism history at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Collins’ research focuses on World War I, U.S. frontier journalism and French journalism.

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