I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, before attending BYU for my undergraduate degree. After graduating from BYU I completed an MA in literature and literary theory at the University of Virginia, after which I worked in Washington, DC, for several years. I then returned to the academy to attend the University of Chicago, this time in History, where I completed my PhD in 2011 in US Political, Economic and Intellectual History. I joined BYU’s history department that same year. My teaching interests include the history of American capitalism, constitutional history, and European and American intellectual history. I also teach one of BYU’s flagship courses, American Heritage, an interdisciplinary course on American politics and history that is required of nearly all BYU students to graduate. My teaching has won the Alcuin Award (given to outstanding faculty who exemplify creativity and interdisciplinary thinking) long with the Outstanding Teacher Award from the Department of History. In 2019 I published Sovereign Soldiers: How the US Military transformed the Global Economy after World War II. I have also published articles in academic journals and the popular press.