Between 2010 and 2018 I directed the "Michael J. Colligan History Project," a 22-year partnership of Miami University Hamilton and the Hamilton Community Foundation that has brought more than 160 public speakers to Hamilton, Ohio, awarded the Dolibois History Prize to prominent historians and the Jim Blount History Educator Award to outstanding history teachers. In 2013 the Project partnered with the City of Hamilton for a civic commemoration of the Great Miami River Flood of 1913, drawing some 3,000 people to 28 public events. From 2001 to 2009 I directed the William Holmes McGuffey Museum, a National Historic Landmark in Oxford, Ohio. Earlier I served as Dean of the Western College of Miami University, Interim Dean of the School of Education & Allied Professions, and Interim Dean of the School of Fine Arts. I also directed both the University Honors and the American Studies programs, taught “History of Miami University,” “Appalachian Cultures & Music,” American Studies, English, and Interdisciplinary Studies courses, chaired Miami University's liberal education reform project from 1980 to 1985 that created the "Miami Plan for Liberal Education," and chaired the Miami Regionals Appalachian Studies Committee. I published "Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven" in 1995, a book from the University Press of Mississippi described by historian Bill C. Malone as “the best account of country music as a community or ‘family’ consisting of fans and musicians.” I co-edited Donald Davidson’s novel "The Big Ballad Jamboree," co-authored two studies of 19th c. African-American writers with E. W. Metcalf, Jr., and have edited many works of local history. For Miami’s 2009 Bicentennial I was editor and lead writer for "Miami University, 1809-2009: Bicentennial Perspectives," a 459-page, 200-year illustrated history of the University. I served as lead interviewer for the "Miami Stories Oral History Project" that conducted more than 100 story-circle interviews for the Bicentennial, and was lead writer for "Bicentennial Moments" on Miami's WMUB-FM Radio. In 2021, with co-editor Fred Bartenstein, I published "Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy," a book from the University of Illinois Press featuring twelve contributors telling the story of Appalachian migration to the Miami Valley and its heritage of musical achievements. I am Past-President of the Butler County Historical Society, a former Trustee of Lane Public Libraries, and currently President of the Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community church in Oxford, Ohio.