About · Historian of leadership
Michael W. Cunningham, Ph.D.
Historian, teacher and author studying how leaders are formed, how they lead, and how they are remembered
Michael W. Cunningham is a historian of leadership. His research asks how leaders in different eras were formed, how they exercised influence, and how later generations chose to remember them. Benjamin Franklin and the American founding are his current focus, alongside studies of twentieth-century religious and intellectual leaders including C. S. Lewis, Carl F. H. Henry, Paul Tillich and Timothy Keller.
He holds a Ph.D. in Leadership from Dallas Baptist University, where he wrote a historical and philosophical dissertation, and is completing an M.A. in History at Liberty University, to be conferred in December 2026.
Since 2020 he has taught U.S. and world history, geography, civics and political science at Franklin Discovery Academy in Vineyard, Utah. He also supports online graduate courses as a Teaching Fellow at Southern Evangelical Seminary and serves as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he leads moral and ethical training.
Research and teaching interests
The history of leadership, the American founding, Benjamin Franklin, the history of ideas, U.S. and world history, ethics and values, and the philosophy of religion.
Current projects
Work in progress includes further studies of Benjamin Franklin, the Revolutionary War and American presidential elections.
Teaching experience
- Teaching Fellow, Southern Evangelical SeminaryAugust 2025 to present. Online graduate courses in theology, apologetics and biblical studies.
- Social Science Teacher, Franklin Discovery AcademyOctober 2020 to present. Project-based courses in U.S. and world history, geography, civics and political science.
Service
- Chaplain (Captain), U.S. Army ReserveJanuary 2023 to present.