Dr. Don Lafreniere (BS, 2009) is Professor of Geography & GIS, Director of the Geospatial Research Facility, and former Chair in the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech University. Don earned his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario in 2014, and he is a historical geographer who uses historical micro-census data and Geographic Information Science to analyze how past populations interacted with their industrial cities. He is the project director of the Keweenaw Time Traveler which is a public participatory GIS project that works with communities to share their history and heritage through maps and data. The project won the 2014 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. 

Don lives in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula with his wife and four children. He is a private pilot and loves to talk to people all over the world via amateur radio (which is actually how he met his wife!) His fondest memory of his time with EMU History was the graduate level Historical Methods course he took with Dr. Delph while he was an undergrad. Don recalls how intimidating it was to be the only undergraduate student in the course, but Dr. Delph pushed everyone to learn how to critically analyze primary sources and was very supportive. 

Jeffrey Koslowski(BA, 2007, MA, 2015) has been teaching high school history at Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan, since 2008. He has designed nine different high school courses including advanced US History and a class designed to mix Social Studies and Physical Education. He has written chapters for four books including Tigers by the Tale: Great Games at Michigan and Trumbull, Base Ball's 19th Century “Winter” Meetings, and Hollywood or History: An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using The Simpsons to Teach History.

When he’s not in the classroom, he gives tours of the new Michigan Central Station building with Detroit History Tours.

John S. Koernke (BS, 1990) has been consulting football teams in Europe via email since 1997. He writes: “Between 1985-1990 the History Department taught me the value of different cultures throughout Europe. I have used that knowledge in my current professional pursuits. I have a grasp of History like a Ph.D. I never stopped studying History since 1990 when I graduated. That has helped me become a better leader and corporate owner. Great respect to Drs. William Briggs, George Cassar, Lee Boyer, Joellen Vinyard, Hafter, Long, Goff, and Engwenyu.”

Tom Sorosiak (MA, 1991) worked on the WGTE documentary Freedom Means Never Surrender, which received a Gold designation for General-Biography at the 45th Annual Telly Awards in May 2024. The documentary tells the story of Colonel Marian Wojciehowski, a Polish Army Cavalry Officer who experienced World War II and the Holocaust firsthand. Tom writes: “I personally knew Mr. Wojciehowski and thus understood what was needed to complete this documentary. My role was doing the historical research of him and his wife and their lives in Poland. The dialogue, most of the photos, and format for the documentary was done by me and coordinated through the production manager at WGTE public broadcasting.” View the documentary on YouTube. 

Tom is currently working on the development of a Polish Cultural Center in Toledo, which will focus on the history of the Polish people living around the Toledo area as well as the culture, practices and general history of the Polish people.