Biography
Robert Chiles studies the complex patterns and quotidian experiences of American life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with a particular focus on U.S. politics and society from the Gilded Age through the twentieth century. In 2023, Chiles won the University of Maryland’s Donna B. Hamilton Award for Teaching Excellence in General Education. In 2025, he won the Provost’s Excellence Award for PTK Teaching. Chiles graduated summa cum laude from Towson University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Music. In 2012 he received his PhD in History from the University of Maryland. Since 2019, Chiles has served as co-editor of New York History. He is also a member of the editorial board of The Hudson River Valley Review and a Research Associate in History with the New York State Museum. He is the creator and host of the New York history interview program “Empire State Engagements.” In 2019, Chiles received the New York State Archives’ Annual Award for Excellence in Research; in 2024, Chiles was elected to the New York Academy of History. His articles have appeared in Environmental History, North Dakota History, New York History, and the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era; his essays have appeared in larger books from SUNY Press and Edinburgh University Press; his op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post, the Albany Times Union, Newsday, and the New York Daily News; and he has contributed to educational television programs including American Experience on PBS. Chiles’s first monograph, The Revolution of ’28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal, was published in 2018 by Cornell University Press.
Photo Credit: Jess Daninhirsch (@daninhirschphotography)