Bio:

Ryan Swanson is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Honors College at UNM. He also serves as the Director of the Lobo Scholars Program.  Ryan earned his Ph.D. in history from Georgetown University 2008.  His latest book, The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete, came out in 2019.  Swanson’s When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime won the SABR Baseball Research Award in 2015.  Swanson has published widely on the role of athletics in the United States.  In the classroom, Ryan teaches courses on sports, history, and the legacy of failure.  During the pandemic, Ryan was one of those professors who frequently forgot to unmute himself while talking on Zoom.  Ryan and his wife Rachael have three children.  They reside in Corrales, NM.

Research Interest:

Sports in American history and society; intersection of education and sports; the side-effects of high achievement.