Zachary Tayler

Ph.D. Candidate in History · Ohio University
zt353221@ohio.edu · zachtayler@gmail.com

Education

2027 (exp.)Ph.D., History, Ohio University. Dissertation: “The Lost Peace: Normalization of Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1975–1995.”
2021M.A., History, Southern New Hampshire University. Thesis: “Refugees and Human Rights: Patricia M. Derian’s Involvement in the Indochinese Refugee Crisis.”
2018B.S., History and Secondary Education, Shippensburg University.

2018–2022Seventh Grade Modern World History Teacher, Stevensville Middle School, Stevensville, Maryland.

Forthcoming“The Path Forward: Key Developments in Normalization between the United States and Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 1986 to 1988,” International Journal of Asian Studies (2026): 1–15.
2025“Humanitarian Legacy: Patricia M. Derian’s Involvement in the Indochinese Refugee Crisis,” Pacific Historical Review: 168–197.
2026Review of Philip Taubman and William Taubman, McNamara at War: A New History, Journal of Military History 90, no. 3: 791–793.
2022Review of Nathaniel L. Moir, Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare, H-War (October).
2025“50 năm kết thúc chiến tranh: Nhìn lại quan hệ Việt-Mỹ thời hậu chiến,” BBC News Tiếng Việt (May 12).

2026–2027Baker Peace Studies Fellowship, Ohio University.
2026Clements Center Summer Seminar in Statecraft and History.
2026Summer Seminar in Strategic Cultures, SHAFR and Mershon Center.
2026Summer Seminar in Military History, Society for Military History and Virginia Military Institute.
2025–2026Cold War Archives Research Institute Fellowship, Oxford University, Blinken OSA Archive, and Corvinus University.
2025–2026Contemporary History Institute Fellow, Ohio University.
2022–2023Contemporary History Institute Fellow, Ohio University.

2026Research Grant, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University.
2026Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Grant, SHAFR.
2025Baker Peace Studies Grant, Ohio University.
2025Vietnamese Language Tuition Award, SEALC–GETSEA Joint Committee.
2025Michael J. Hogan Foreign Language Fellowship, SHAFR.
2024Peter and Edith O’Donnell Endowment Grant, Scowcroft Institute, Texas A&M University.
2023Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Research Travel Grant.
2023Tuition Scholarship for Vietnamese Language Study, SEALC.

2027 · scheduled“The Road Map to Where? U.S. Policy to Normalize Diplomatic Relations with Vietnam,” AHA Annual Conference; organizer, “Vietnam at Home and Abroad” panel.
2026“Beyond Bipolarity: Vietnam’s Transition in the Post-Cold War Era,” CWAR Institute Colloquium, Oxford.
2026“The Roadmap Not Taken: Why Normalization with Vietnam Stalled before 1995,” SHAFR Annual Conference.
2025“The Path Forward: The United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1986–1988,” University of California, Berkeley.
2025“Old Adversaries, New Opportunities: U.S.–Vietnamese Relations, 1975–1978,” SHAFR Annual Conference.
2024“Humanitarian Legacy: Patricia M. Derian’s Involvement in the Indochinese Refugee Crisis,” SHAFR Annual Conference.

2023–2025Teaching Assistant, Ohio University: Western Civilization from 1500; Introduction to U.S. History, 1865–Present; Introduction to World History Before 1750.
2023–2024History Tutor, Tutor.com / The Princeton Review.
2018–2022Seventh Grade Modern World History Teacher, Stevensville Middle School.

2026Blinken Open Society Archives, Budapest; National Archives Center III and National Library of Vietnam, Hanoi.
2025Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive; William J. Clinton and George H. W. Bush Presidential Libraries.
2024Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford Presidential Libraries.
2023National Archives and Records Administration II; Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.
2021Maryland State Archives; Pratt Library.

2026Assistant Conference Coordinator, SHAFR Conference; Graduate Assistant, Central Regional Humanities Center Conference.
2025–presentFellow, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.
2024–presentTeaching Committee and Graduate Student Committee, SHAFR.
2023Social Studies Curriculum Writing, Queen Anne’s County Public Schools.

Society for History in the Federal Government; Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations; American Historical Association; Society for Military History; Phi Alpha Theta.