William Virden is the Director of the Colorado Institute for Historical Study, a 501-c-3 educational organization. Since 1995 the Institute has worked to promote the study of local, state and western history. Mr. Virden has over eighteen years college-level teaching experience at the University of Northern Colorado, Front Range Community College, Aims Community College.

Fritz Fischer is Professor of History and History Education at UNC. He is the 1998 recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences award for outstanding teaching and the recipient of the Mortar Board Outstanding Teacher Award in 2003 and 2006.

Prof. Fischer received his B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Previous to receiving his doctorate, Prof. Fischer taught middle school and high school history in California. He specializes in 20th century American cultural and diplomatic history. His most recent book is entitled Making Them Like Us: Peace Corps Volunteers in the 1960s.

Mark has spent a 34-year career teaching American history at the high school level in Colorado Springs. He has taught all levels of American history within the curriculum, and has specialized since 1986 in teaching Advanced Placement U.S. History. Mark enjoys combining story telling with document sources as an exciting way for students to engage history directly. Since 2000, Mark has also served as an insructor for the University of Colorado at Denver, and mentored fellow teachers and professors at the national Advanced Placement U.S. History Readings from 2008-2010. Mark is also a past beneficiary of TAH, having participated in the program from 2007 through 2010.

Jan Gugeler's thirty years of professional experience includes teaching grades 7-12 in American studies, literature, composition, math and sociology; adjunct faculty experience with Southern State Community College (Ohio), Butler County Community College (Kansas), Belleville Area Community College (Illinois) and Pikes Peak Community College (Colorado).  Mrs. Gugeler is a National Endowment for the Humanities scholar, participating in Landmarks of History: Mark Twain (2009), Benjamin Franklin (2009) and Abraham Lincoln (2010).  She retired from Falcon district 49 in Colorado Springs in 2010.

Marene Baker is an archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration Rocky Mountain Region. She has a B.A. in history from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a M.A. in history and Public History from New Mexico State University. She is also a Certified Archivist. Prior to working for the National Archives, Marene worked as a curator for the National Park Service at Yosemite and Petrified Forest National Parks.

Teaching American History Project welcomes Gloria O’Neill as the newest member of the TAH team. Gloria will lead the storytelling portion of our program. She will teach how to develop a story and train participants to communicate that story through a digital medium.

Gloria has worked with the TAH program for several years. She designed and programmed our website and has supported us with technical assistance. Gloria has a strong background in communication and holds degrees in Media Management and Instructional Design.

Over the years, Gloria has produced industrial videos, has worked on remote broadcasts for KOAA (a TV station in Colorado Springs), and has been in charge of the City of Colorado Springs’ cable program and broadcast.

Having studied writing and storytelling, Gloria possesses a strong understanding of the story process and has used this to document numerous family stories, write scripts for TV commercials, public service announcements, press releases, as well as content for websites and print.