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School of American and Global Studies

Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones

Title

Adjunct Faculty

Office Building

Lincoln Hall

Office

132

Mailing Address

Lincoln Hall 132
School of American and Global Studies-Box 2212
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

Dr. Ben Jones currently serves as the state historian and director of the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre. As part of his role, he teaches classes at SDSU online. Prior to his current role, he served as South Dakota's 15th Secretary of Education, as dean of Arts and Sciences at Dakota State University and as an Air Force officer for 23 years. While in the Air Force, he was on the History Department faculty at the US Air Force Academy.

Education

  • Ph.D. | University of Kansas | 2008
  • M.A. | University of Nebraska | 1999
  • B.A. | South Dakota State University | 1989

Academic Interests

  • South Dakota history
  • Military history
  • Unconventional warfare
  • European history

Grants

  • “Rethinking K-12 Education.” US Department of Education Competitive Grant, 2020, $6,883,481.
  • “Humanities Connections Implementation Grant.” National Endowment for the Humanities, 2018, $99,500.
  • “The Mount Rushmore Presidential and Congressional Academy for American History and Civics,” U.S. Department of Education, 2016, $1,779,000.
  • STEM Institute Grant from Great Plains Foundation, 2015 - 2018, $17,000.
  • First In The World (FITW) “Jump Start” Grant, U. S. Department of Education grant awarded to South Dakota’s public universities and Oglala Lakota College for the purposes of supporting South Dakota’s American Indian and economically disadvantaged students. 2014 - 2019. $283,000.
     

Areas of Research

  • The nature of guerrilla warfare.
  • The history of South Dakota.

Publications

Book

  1. Eisenhower’s Guerrillas:  The Jedburghs, the Maquis and the Liberation of France, (New York: Oxford University Press), 2016.

Book Chapters

  1. “What Works? Jedburgh Team Operations Supporting Conventional Forces,” in The Competitive Advantage: Special Operations Forces in Large-Scale Combat Operations, edited by Robert M. Toguchi and Michael E Kirvdo, (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Army University Press), 2019.
  2. “Leaving Afghanistan” in Our Latest Longest War: Losing Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan, edited by Aaron O’Connell, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 2017. 

Department(s)