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Dr. Melissa Fulgham
Division Chair for the Social Sciences
& Professor of History
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8253
Email: mfulgham@ntcc.edu
Office: H-128E

James McGregor
Professor of History
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8236
Email: jmcgregor@ntcc.edu
Office: H-109

I was born in East Texas but grew up in the Panhandle. I attended school at Texas Tech and East Texas State University graduating with a M.S. in History in 2003. My primary academic focus in college was 19th Century American History and Medieval European History. I taught mostly American and Texas History in Junior High for 11 years before taking a full time position at NTCC in 2008. I generally teach both American History courses and Texas History each semester.

I have been married to the same wonderful women since 1999 and have one child who is currently in high school. My hobbies include hunting, fishing, tailgating, and attempting to keep up with a teenage daughter.

Dr. Andrew Yox
Professor of History & Director of Honors
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8229
Email: ayox@ntcc.edu
Office: H-115

Credentials:
B.A., Valparaiso University;
M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago

I used to repeat the joke that “I was from Buffalo, New York, which was the best place in the world to be born in as long as you move away before your house is vandalized.” Buffalo has since picked up thanks to natural gas. But it was a great place for an educator to be born, a visual testimony to some of the triumphs (Buffalo gave us the two A/Cs--alternating current and air conditioning), and follies (cracked viaducts, huge unused monstrosity grain elevators, toxic chemicals in the soil) of our modern age.

My hard-working, devout parents really deserve more credit than me for the fact that I was able to attain a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1983. And for that matter, God deserves the praise. I married Christine Krueger, from Phoenix in 1989. We met in Texas, and have stayed here ever since! We have four children. The eldest, Paul, works at Goldman Sachs and lives in Midtown, Manhattan. Philip is a graduate student at Iowa State in Chemistry. Joshua will be attending Texas A&M at College Station as a graduate student in the fall, interested in government. Rebecca is a biology major at Concordia University, Nebraska, one of our Lutheran synodical colleges.

I have taught at several universities but only one college—NTCC, starting in 1994. I have deeply appreciated the humane dimensions of our “Miracle on 1735.” I am a firm believer in student research, research-centered activities, and student awards. Honors Students have helped teach me some of the coolest things I have learned in Texas history. This includes the ideas of how the Texas Revolution functioned as a “Psychological Guillotine” for its leaders, and how Governors Ma and Pa Ferguson operated as a “Symbiotic Supercouple.” My American history students have taught me about the “God-Play Pattern” in school shootings, and how Adolph Hitler became the “Ultimate Villain” of modern American history.

I aspire to provide the best in supporting students to form their own ideas, and persuasive arguments.

In 2007, I was fortunate to become the NTCC honors director. I believe we have obtained a unique system of leveraging student success thanks to the support of our donors, professors, administrators, and parents. One of my mottoes as an honors director and professor is: “Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).

I am thankful for the many gifts I have received, and for the remakable age and place where I have worked. I pray that I will be efficacious in supporting student success at NTCC.
 

Austin Baxley
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: abaxley@ntcc.edu

Secondary Teacher of the Year, 2020, Como-Pickton

Austin Baxley grew up in Como, Texas and has always enjoyed the study of history. He graduated with a Master's Degree in History from Texas A&M University-Commerce. He has taught for several years at Como-Pickton High School and now works with NTCC to bring dual credit history classes to students at Como-Pickton. He enjoys board games with family and friends and is a youth leader at Fellowship Baptist Church in Como, Texas.
 

Sid Hicks
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: shicks@ntcc.edu

I am a full-time teacher at Mt. Vernon High School where I teach the embedded U.S. History courses. I am also NTCC’s Instructional Coach for the online U.S. Government and Macroeconomics courses offered at MVHS. I have two masters’ degrees from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce). The first is in Secondary and Higher Education and the second is in History. I have an active interest in agriculture, including the history of agriculture with a focus on �������� Texas. My interest in agriculture extends to an active role as a cattle farmer (terminology for a cow-calf business operation since calves are the crop) on property settled by my mother’s family under the Republic of Texas and by my father’s family at the turn of the last century in Franklin County. “Wherever you go, there you are” is one of my favorite quotes because of the eternal truth of the statement. I took it upon myself to find the origin of the quote only to realize it probably predates the written word.

Dr. Kim Nichols
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: knichols@ntcc.edu

I grew up an Army brat, moving every three years and landing at duty stations throughout the United States and Europe. I credit my vagabond life, particularly living in Europe, for my love of history. Walking in a small German village, you could easily see a church and castle built in the Middle Ages, walk across a bridge built by the Romans, and visit a museum full of paintings from the Renaissance, all before 12 noon. Who would not be intrigued by the history of it all?

I earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, majoring in history. Though European history had always interested me, my history courses at Marshall ignited an interest in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly the activism of women in the Movement. With that as my focus, I moved to Memphis, TN and earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D from the University of Memphis.

While working on my Ph.D., I was given the opportunity to participate in the National Civil Rights Museum’s expansion project where they added the Young & Morrow Building to the museum’s exhibits. It was from the window of the 2nd floor bathroom of the Y&M Building that James Earl Ray shot Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through this project, the story of the Civil Rights Movement was expanded to include the assassination of Dr. King and its impact thereafter on the city of Memphis, the United States, and the world. If you ever visit Memphis, I strongly suggest that you visit the National Civil Rights Museum!

My teaching career at NTCC began in January 2002, when I began teaching on-campus courses in Mt. Pleasant and Pittsburg. I then developed and taught the first online history course in Fall 2003. I have enjoyed teaching online ever since and I have made online instruction the cornerstone of my academic career – developing online courses, attending online workshops, and teaching online instruction techniques.

I currently live in Germantown, TN with my husband who serves in the military and our two rescue dogs.

John Russo
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: jrusso@ntcc.edu

Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year

I grew up in Massachusetts and relocated to California in search of a music career after graduation. When music failed to cover expenses for my family, I enrolled at Saddleback Community College and double majored in music and history. I transferred to California State University Fullerton in 1997 and majored in multi-cultural history. I relocated to Texas in 2006 and began working as a tutor for the Academic Skills Center at ��������. I enrolled in classes at NTCC and A&M Texarkana in fall 2007, and earned an Associates of Arts and Sciences and Bachelor of General Studies from NTCC and TAMUT respectively in May 2009. I completed a Master’s degree from TAMUT in December 2011. I became an Associate Faculty for History with NTCC in spring 2012.

Kayla Reno
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: kreno@ntcc.edu

Kayla Reno began teaching with NTCC in 2014. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Memphis is European History, African History, and Global History. Her research interests focus on German imperialism and the field of tropical medicine during the colonial period. Kayla earned her BA and MA in History from Murray State University.

Kayla lives in Memphis, TN with her two cats, Benny and Clare.

Stanley Statser
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: sstatser@ntcc.edu

Stanley Statser received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Texas A&M University, College Station, before beginning a career in retail management in the Dallas area. After owning and operating a commercial greenhouse business in Wood County in northeast Texas, Stanley attended graduate school at East Texas State University. Having received a Master of Arts Degree in United States history from ETSU Statser joined the faculty of Jarvis Christian College teaching U.S. history courses. During his seventeen year tenure at Jarvis Statser served as chair of the faculty senate for three terms, was named Educator of the Year, Advisor of the Year, and was promoted to Assistant Professor of History. While at Jarvis he developed three new courses in U.S. History for the college. Statser has been teaching part-time for NTCC since 1996.

Crystal Tafuro
Associate Faculty
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: ctafuro@ntcc.edu

Melonie Chamness
Online Coach
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: mchamness@ntcc.edu

Ashley Dabbraccio
Online Coach
Department: History
Phone: 903-434-8255
Email: adabbraccio@ntcc.edu