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Samuel B. Hoff, PhD

GEORGE WASHINGTON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR EMERTUS
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Samuel B. Hoff is George Washington Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Delaware State University.  A native of Williamsport, PA.  he earned his college degrees in political science from Susquehanna University (BA, 1979), American University (MA, 1981), and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (MA, 1983; Ph.D., 1987).  Dr. Hoff has held teaching positions at several universities around the nation, including New York Institute of Technology, Ohio Wesleyan University, Wittenberg University, State University of New York—College at Geneseo, Wichita State University, and Delaware State University.  At DSU since 1989, Dr. Hoff served as ROTC Director from 1993-1999; Chair of the Department of History, Political Science, and Philosophy from 2000-2003; Chair of the NCAA Recertification Committee, 2003-2005; Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation from 2005-2011; and Director of Graduate Programs for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences from 2011-2015.  He served as Law Studies Program Director from 2005-2019.  In 1999, Dr. Hoff received an endowed distinguished professorship from the Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati (DSSC), becoming the first full-time faculty member in DSU history to be so honored.  Between 1992 and 2012, he was the recipient of six annual DSU Faculty Excellence Awards, becoming the first faculty member to receive the award in all four categories of competition: Research (1992), Teaching (1996, 2005), Service (2000, 2010), and Advising (2012). Upon his retirement from full-time duties at DSU in 2019, Dr. Hoff was awarded emeritus status, becoming the ninth DSU professor recognized in that manner. He is the recipient of several national fellowships in the area of foreign, military, and national security policy, including a military history fellowship from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, People to People Scholarship for travel to Cuba, and an Exxon-Mobil Faculty Fellowship for study in Vietnam.  Additionally, he is widely published as an opinion column writer, contributing regularly to the News Journal and Delaware State News. Dr. Hoff worked in three staff positions with the U.S. Congress between 1978 and 1986 and served as a member of Military Academy Selection Committee for U.S. Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) in 2009.  Locally, he chaired the Dover Human Relations Commission from 2005-2010 and was a two-time Dover City Council candidate.  He has received two tributes from the Delaware House of Representatives for service to his community and the State of Delaware.  Dr. Hoff is married to Phyllis R. Oliveto-Hoff, a physical trainer and adjunct English instructor.  They have resided in Dover for 35 years.

Emeritus appointment