Laura Belmonte

Laura A. Belmonte is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and Professor of History at Virginia Tech. She received her A.B. in History and Political Science from the University of Georgia and her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of Virginia. Her books include "The International LGBT Rights Movement: A History" (Bloomsbury, 2020) and "Selling the American Way: U.S. Propaganda and the Cold War" (UPenn, 2008). She is also co-author of "Global Americans: A Transnational U.S. History" and editor of "Speaking of America: Readings in U.S. History." She is editor of the Bloomsbury series "History in 15" and co-editor of "Transnational LGBTQ+ Networks in Europe and the Americas" (Bloomsbury, forthcoming).

Before accepting the deanship at Virginia Tech in 2019, she taught at Oklahoma State University for 23 years. While at OSU, she co-founded the Gender and Women’s Studies and American Studies programs. Her administrative roles included Director of American Studies, Head of the Department of History, and Associate Dean for Personnel and Instruction for the College of Arts and Sciences. She has extensive non-profit board experience including co-founding and leading Freedom Oklahoma, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. She served on the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation from 2009 to 2019. In 2021-2022, she served as President of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR). Her SHAFR experience also includes terms on the SHAFR national council, the editorial board of Diplomatic History, the Nominating Committee, the Link-Kuehl Prize Committee, the Committee on the Status of Women, and other ad hoc committees.