By Cody Heintz, Assistant Business Manager
Professor Louis Kern has been a history professor at Hofstra University for over 30 years. He is currently serving as the chair of the history department for third three-year term.
He previously served as chair for two consecutive terms from 2000-2006 and now his term is from 2009-2012. During this time he has seen the history department's office move from Hofstra Hall to Heger Hall and then to their current office in the New Academic Building (NAB). The offices at the NAB are considered luxurious compared to the ones at Hofstra Hall, where sharing offices was basically a requirement, with at least two professors per office or three.
Professor Kern originally received both his bachelors and masters from Clark College in 1965 and 1967 respectively. In 1968, while teaching at a junior college, he got a surprise knock at his door from the draft board and was drafted into the army.
Even though his service in the army was in the middle of the Vietnam War, he was never shipped off to Vietnam. Instead, he was trained as a linguist and stationed in Yugoslavia. After his service in the army, he got his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1977.
When asked what impressed Professor Kern most about the university first said "The location. as it is next to [New York City] but not in the city".
He said that the proximity was important, not only because of the research capabilities of the city (like the New York Public Library) but also for the diverse cultures the city has to offer.
Another thing that has impressed Kern about Hofstra is what he called its "rising curve", by which he means that the school has been improving since his arrival.On the ‘rise' are things like the quality of freshmen classes and the increased number of facilities, which his current office the New academic Building is an example of.