Luke Griffith
In Fall 2020, Ohio University alumnus Luke Griffith joined the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C., as a post-doctoral scholar, part of its inaugural visiting fellows program.
Griffith was previously the 2019-20 Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at the RAND Corp. He earned a Ph.D. in History in 2018, along with a Contemporary History Certificate.
At RAND, Griffith wrote about nuclear weapons and arms control issues. He credits CHI with preparing him to work in an interdisciplinary environment, such as the one at RAND. Moreover, Griffith notes that CHI allowed him the opportunity to explore foundational works in seminars which went beyond his U.S. history coursework, including Dr. John Brobst’s seminar on grand strategy. These, too, were helpful in both his dissertation and his work at RAND.
Now at the Ronald Reagan Institute, Griffith is working to transform his dissertation, which examines the U.S. role in the International Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) of December 1987, into a manuscript. Griffith’s research gained new relevance after President Trump withdrew the United States from the treaty in August 2019. This unexpected shift in the interest in arm’s control led Griffith to encourage students to choose thesis and dissertation topics for reasons that go beyond popularity because trends can change overnight. Griffith also encourages current students to form professional relationships with the faculty at Ohio University and reminds students that faculty members can offer valuable advice regarding everything from selecting a research topic to conducting archival research to facing a daunting job market.
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