Vanguard University

This is Kristen Lashua. It is her first year as Department Chair of History and Political Science. 

Her last name is from her husband who is of French-Canadian descent. When she is out to dinner her dish of choice is pad thai. Her husband and she enjoy seeing different theatre plays and visiting museums. She hopes to one day see grammy award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton when the ticket prices are not so expensive. But these days, she spends most of her time at home because her husband and she are expecting their second baby. They are still in the process of picking out a name. 

"Fun fact about me, I grew up being homeschooled until the end of high school. Luckily, I love my mom and get along with her so it was okay," Kristen laughs. 

When she was not in school, Kristen spent a lot of her time reading and later went to Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington as an English literature major and later decided to double major in history. After that, she continued to pursue a master's degree and dotorate in history at the University of Virginia. There, she continue with her interest in early modern history specifically at the end of the middle ages to the industrial revolution in the British Empire. During her undergraduate education, Kristen had the opportunity to study abroad in London. 

"Living in a new place was amazing. I was able to learn a lot and it kind of fueled my passion for history. We took these amazing tours of old historic places so I got to see a lot of different things which was cool. I chose history because it’s about people and people are always fascinating to me."

Kristen met her husband Andrew who double-majored studying history and economics at Pacific Lutheran. They ended meeting by doing a group project for a Europe and World Wars class their senior year. He took her to a bookstore for their first date. Upon graduating, she told him that she was going to pursue graduate school and he followed her across the country. They got married in Washington. Today, Kristen and her family live within walking distance from campus.  

In her last year of graduate school, she saw an ad that Vanguard was looking to hire a historian and applied.

"I flew out and it was barely sprinkling outside. People were like I'm sorry about the bad weather and I laughed thinking I'm from Washington."

Vanguard University is so grateful for Kristen's leadership and heart for the history department.

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