Elizabeth A. Lehfeldt, Ph.D., dean of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Honors College at Cleveland State University, has been elected vice president of the Teaching Division of the American Historical Association (AHA).

Dr. Lehfeldt is serving a three-year term on the AHA’s governing council, effective January 2016.

With 14,000 members, the Washington, D.C.-based AHA is the largest professional organization in the United States dedicated to the study and promotion of history and historical thinking. Its Teaching Division seeks to improve teaching of history in the curriculum at all levels.

“It is an honor to be elected by my peers in the profession,” Dr. Lehfeldt said. “I have always been passionate about teaching, and I look forward to promoting the teaching of history and serving the Association.”

Dr. Lehfeldt is the inaugural dean of the Mandel Honors College, CSU’s ninth college. She also holds the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Chair in Humanities, an endowed position.

Dedicated in November 2015, the Mandel Honors College serves as the academic home of more than 500 CSU students enrolled in the University Honors and University Scholars programs. The college was established with a $3.6 million gift from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation and the Mandel Supporting Foundations.

Before Dr. Lehfeldt was appointed dean in July 2015, she served as interim director of the Mandel Honors College. She chaired CSU’s Department of History from 2009 to 2014, and also has served as interim director of general education and special assistant to the president for student success.

Dr. Lehfeldt has been a member of the CSU faculty since 1995. She earned a B.A. in History from Lawrence University and completed master’s and doctoral studies in Early Modern European History at Indiana University.