news history peeps: david vaught professor of history september 2 2021 history peeps: david vaught professor of history david vaught writing his dissertation in 1995 with the assistance of his infant daughter diana (who graduated from dental school in 2021) note the vintage macintosh desktop history shows that finding ones way sometimes requires the courage to reject a predetermined path when i first went to college out of high school i tried to be a math major because my father was a math professor dr david vaught states i failed miserably he adds in 1979 in the middle of his junior year dr vaught had had enough he recalls i just got in my car and left he started driving a delivery truck in the san francisco bay area six years later dr vaught decided to enroll at san francisco state university again he declared a math major (the quickest route to graduation) but quickly realized it wasnt for him i dont even think i lasted one class before i walked out in the middle of it and thought what the hell am i doing here for the first time dr vaught decided to take classes that interested him a casual comment in a western civilization class about the worldview of ancient egyptians hooked him the idea of using primary sources to peer into the minds of historical actors to understand their motivations intrigued him after earning a phd in history in 1997 from the university of california davis dr vaught started his career at texas a&m for dr vaught embracing the process of researching and writing history remains central to his motivation he states the most important thing to learnfor your own sanityis how to enjoy the process as opposed to the outcome from an ideas early stirrings to researching it in an archive to staring anxiously at a blank computer screen to holding a polished book in ones hand learning to embrace the highs and lows of the process is key to a scholars lasting success another source of motivation is finding a topic one loves dr vaught merged history with his lifelong obsession with baseball it began when he spent late nights as a child glued to the crackly radio broadcasts of giants baseball games over time he turned his passion into books including the farmers game: baseball in rural america (2014) and spitter: baseballs notorious gaylord perry (forthcoming) dr vaught states the ability to mix history and baseballwhich didnt occur to me until very late in the game (so to speak)is the greatest dr vaught hopes his enthusiasm rubs off on students history is just so full of great stuff i mean how can you not teach it with enthusiasm to what historical figure would dr vaught like to say howdy if given a chance dr vaught would love to meet george w pierce jr an almond grower in california at the turn of the 20th century and the central figure in his first book cultivating california: growers specialty crops and labor 1875–1920 (1999) hed also like to meet pierces father george w pierce sr a gold rush migrant turned wheat farmer in california featured in dr vaughts second book after the gold rush: tarnished dreams in the sacramento valley (2007) dr vaught would simply want to ask did i get it right (jennifer wells 24) faculty history peeps