Matthew V. Bender is a Professor of History at The College of New Jersey, where he joined the faculty in August 2006. A native of Evansville, Indiana, he holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Washington University in Saint Louis, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. He also spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. An accomplished teacher-scholar, his research and teaching focus on modern African social and cultural history, with special interest in environment, natural resources, and agriculture. An expert in the history of African water management, he has published numerous articles and chapters, a book entitled Water Brings No Harm: Management Knowledge and the Struggle for the Waters of Kilimanjaro (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2019), and he has a forthcoming second book tentatively entitled Colonizing Water: Empire, Commodification, and Appropriation in Africa. At The College, he has supervised numerous students in mentored research and the writing of their senior honors theses. A proponent of overseas learning, he has co-led five TCNJ faculty-led study abroad programs, four to South Africa and one to Rwanda. From 2014 to 2019, he was Director of the College’s International Studies program, and from 2019 to 2023 served as President of the TCNJ Faculty Senate. He believes deeply in college-wide shared governance and the importance of bringing together all campus stake-holders, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, and members of the community. Beyond campus, he serves on the editorial boards of two academic journals: Water History and History in Africa, and he is active in numerous professional associations. When not working, he enjoys woodworking and furniture making, as well as spending time with his dog Doc.