Biography
Professor Donald is “homegrown” at Liberty. She graduated from Lynchburg Christian Academy, where she met her husband, Mike. She attended Liberty for one year before they married and then focused her energy on homemaking and caring for their son, Tommy. Her family now includes a beloved daughter-in-law, Christina, and most importantly, a granddaughter.
In the 1990s, Professor Donald returned to Liberty to complete her B.A. in history with a minor in French and went on to earn the M.A. from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her major concentration of study there was European history with a minor concentration in American history. She continued her studies in the doctoral program at George Mason University where she advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. in History in 2010. Her major field of study was Early Modern Europe and her minor fields were Early America and Early Modern Culture with additional course work in History and New Media.
Professor Donald joined the history faculty at Liberty in 2001 and was appointed Assistant Professor of History in 2006. In 2014, she was honored with the Liberty University President’s Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2020, Lynchburg Living awarded Professor Donald as one of their Top Teacher recipients.
In 2020, Professor Donald was appointed the Director of Public History Initiatives. Her work includes administering the University’s historic preservation work at New London, directing the Chaplains Museum, and coordinating student volunteers at local historical sites.
Professor Donald previously served on the Faculty Advisory Board for the Center for Academic Development. Her activities with CTE included coaching participants in the Teaching with Technology Bootcamp, serving as a New Faculty Mentor, teaching workshops on a regular basis, and collaborating with CTE staff in conference presentations on student engagement and teaching in the large classroom. In 2015, she received the ILLUMINATE Grant for the Improvement of Teaching. This grant funded the semester-long Hands-On History project during the inaugural semester of Liberty’s first Public History class. In 2016, she collaborated with Information Technology to extend our public history offerings into the realm of Digital History. In 2020 and 2021, she received grants from the Center for Research and Scholarship to offer one-week intensive courses in archaeology at New London.
Professor Donald is a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the Lynchburg Civil War Roundtable, Phi Alpha Theta, and the American Association of State and Local History. She serves as an officer on the board of directors for the Bedford Museum and Genealogical Society and for the Friends of New London.
Along with her husband, Professor Donald is an active member of Thomas Road Baptist Church where she serves on the leadership team for their adult Bible class. Professor Donald also enjoys regular visits with residents of local assisted living and medical care facilities.
Collaborative Research Opportunities
Professor Donald enjoys working with students on research projects related to public history with a particular focus on local history including the history of Liberty University. She is also interested in developing digital history projects, either with existing research or with projects that are “born digital.” Professor Donald has also worked with students in disciplines outside of history to develop research projects related to historic preservation and museum studies. She enjoys working with beginning students as they develop their research skills.