About Dr. Strayer

The Past Is Always Present
For more than thirty years, Dr. Brian Strayer began each Civilizations class with what he liked to call “the past is always present”—short historical insights connecting ancient customs, words, and practices to modern life. From the origins of phrases like “sincere” and “true blue” to the ancient roots of makeup, table games, and even air conditioning, Dr. Strayer delighted in showing students how history still shapes the present.

Recently, his own past has come full circle. Nearly sixty years ago, while attending a small Adventist school in Union Springs, New York, Strayer studied alongside the Cash brothers Bill, Larry, and Freddy sons of Union Springs Academy faculty members Robert and Kathryn Cash. They played softball, joined Pathfinders, and shared school lunches together.

Years later, those friendships continued to shape his life. While Strayer was completing his PhD at the University of Iowa, Kathryn Cash typed his 1987 doctoral dissertation. Soon after, Dr. Bill Cash then teaching at St. Mary’s College in South Bend helped him revise the dissertation for publication as Lettres de Cachet and Social Control in the Ancien Régime (Peter Lang Press, 1992).

Just recently, Dr. Strayer learned that the first contributor to the newly established Brian E. Strayer History and Political Science Student Research and Travel Endowed Fund was Dr. Bill Cash of California. His generous gift will help support student research, travel, and conference presentations continuing the legacy of mentorship and scholarship.

If you are a friend or former student of Dr. Strayer, we invite you to consider supporting this fund as well. Contributions of any size will assist history and political science majors with research materials, travel, and presentation expenses.

Please send your check, made out to “Andrews University” with “Strayer Endowed Fund” in the subject line, to:

Office of Development
Andrews University
Griggs Hall B213
8903 US 31
Berrien Springs, MI 49104

Future issues of Footnote will share updates on the growth of this meaningful fund.