Interim David Hood Professor of Ancient History

In 2018, our colleague, David Hood, passed away. David’s career at CSULB spanned more than 50 years and during that time he established an unprecedented model of service to the university, college, and department, and built up the History department’s Ancient History program, serving as an invaluable mentor to countless students at both the BA and MA levels. More than anything, David’s dream was for Ancient History to thrive at CSULB, and to that end, in his estate, he generously bequeathed both an endowed professor of Ancient Greek and Roman history and an Ancient History Program Fund to serve students at the BA and MA levels who are studying that field at CSULB. 

The Department of History is very pleased to announce that Dr. Mik Larsen has been offered, and agreed to serve as, the Interim David Hood Professor of Ancient History. Dr. Larsen received his doctorate from UCLA and, beginning in Spring 2018, has been a lecturer in the History department. Since he started teaching at CSULB, Mik has generated renewed interest in ancient history and built up a strong following amongst our majors. Furthermore, he has developed new courses for the curriculum, expanding our coverage of the Ancient World into Western Asia. 

Please join us in congratulating Mik and wishing him well in building on David Hood’s legacy.