Fall 2025 Student Fellows

Jordan Ambrose

Jordan Ambrose is a United States Army veteran and current history major at San Diego State University, where he maintains a 3.74 GPA and expects to graduate in Fall 2025. With a strong interest in colonial and Atlantic history—especially in the New World—he aspires to teach Latin American colonial history at the college level. His military experience includes managing and training small teams, maintaining over $1 million in sensitive equipment, and instructing groups of 30–60 soldiers, which sharpened his leadership, organizational, and teaching skills. He brings excellent research, writing, and technological capabilities to his academic work. Ambrose is drawn to the American Revolutionary and Constitutional period because it represents one of the most transformative eras in world history, where traditional power structures, religious dogma, and imperial dominance were challenged by revolutionary ideas centered on individualism, logic, and social progress. The improbable success of such upheaval in the face of vast imperial power captures his fascination and underscores the global significance of the era.

 

Mitchell George

Mitchell George, originally from Carlsbad, California, earned his B.A. in Military and International History from Brunel University London in 2023, where his award-winning dissertation challenged common myths about General Douglas Haig in World War I. Now a graduate student in San Diego State University’s War and Society program, he focuses on Britain’s Indian and France’s African soldiers from the eighteenth century through the World Wars. His academic interests span British and European military history from the seventeenth century to World War II. Mitchell is drawn to the American Revolution due to the many myths surrounding it in U.S. education and media. He hopes to offer a British perspective on the conflict, highlight its internal divisions within Britain, and connect it to earlier English revolutions that inspired the Founding Fathers. He also aims to reassess King George III’s legacy and promote a clearer, more accurate understanding of the Revolution and its global context.

 

Jack Krepps

Jack Krepps is a second-year student at San Diego State University majoring in Political Science and Public Administration with a minor in History. His passion for history began in childhood with his grandparents and grew into a fascination with the American Revolution and the ideals it represents. With a family background in military service, Jack sees the Revolution as a living legacy that continues to shape American civic life. As a competitive debater at SDSU, he explores historical and political ideas through current events. In his freshman year, he read and annotated every paragraph of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, deepening his belief that understanding today’s society requires a strong grasp of its Revolutionary and Constitutional roots.

 

Sheamus O’Brien

Sheamus O’Brien, born and raised in San Diego, is a recent graduate of San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. He is currently pursuing graduate studies in the SDSU History Department, while serving as the department’s student assistant and as an assistant for the SDSU Center for Comics Studies. His academic research focuses on the intersection and cooperation between Irish anticolonial resistance and anticolonial movements abroad. Through the American Revolution and Constitution History (ARCH) Project, Sheamus seeks to foster dialogue on how the U.S. Constitution shapes America’s identity and how the legacy of a nation founded in opposition to Britain’s colonial empire inspired anticolonial movements around the globe well into the twentieth century.

 

Kelly Sorber

Kelly Sorber is a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer (E-7) who served for 20 years as an Aviation Electrician’s Mate, deploying across the globe and working extensively on five variants of the H-60 helicopter as well as the F-35C. In the final years of her service, she led as a Flight Deck Coordinator and served as a Command Equal Opportunity Manager, where she demonstrated both operational expertise and a commitment to personnel development. Following her retirement in 2021, she earned an A.A. in History from San Diego Mesa College in 2022 and a B.A. in Social Science from San Diego State University in 2025. She returned to SDSU in Fall 2025 to begin graduate studies in History, focusing on United States history. Sorber’s interest in the Revolutionary and Constitutional era is rooted in a desire to understand the foundations of the United States—its early struggles, evolving ideals, and the transition from colonial resistance to constitutional governance. She believes that a deep understanding of these formative years is essential for interpreting the nation’s present challenges and future direction.

 

Mia Tumbaga

Mia Tumbaga is a graduate student in the M.A. History program at San Diego State University. Mia graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA with a B.A. in History with the goal of earning a Ph.D. Mia's research emphasis is on migrant labor in the California agricultural borderlands, specifically through the lens of race and class during the Great Depression. Mia is primarily interested in how race and class interact in culturally diverse areas during times of economic distress When not studying or conducting research, Tumbaga enjoys spending time with her dog and family.

 

 

Andrew Wickman

Andrew Wickman is a History major at San Diego State University pursuing a Bachelor's Degree with an emphasis on teaching. A transfer student from Grossmont Community College, he earned Associate Degrees in History and University Studies before continuing his academic journey. He is a member of both the Tau Sigma and Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Societies. Committed to becoming a professor, he plans to pursue a Master's Degree to inspire others to explore the history of the United States. Andrew believes that understanding our past is essential to improving our future. His academic interests focus on the Revolutionary War and the Constitutional Period, a passion sparked by a course with Professor Eve Kornfeld that revealed often-overlooked aspects of the era. He is particularly interested in examining the experiences and cultures of Indigenous peoples during this transformative period in American history.