This recommendation for Brian will be a biased one.   After experiencing the pleasure of working alongside of Brian for over eight years it is impossible not to be biased in his favor both professionally and personally.

Though we labor in different disciplines, Brian and I have forged a close working bond over the years.    Through Brian I've gained a far deeper insight into how film influences history, how to use film to teach history, and how to create multi-media presentations on the computer.    In turn I know I've influenced Brian's perspective on the relationship of historical events to film.

Last year we had the pleasure of working together on a research project about the film director John Ford and his involvement with the O.S.S. in WWII for a possible program with the History Channel.   We spent two weeks at the Lilly Archives in Indiana and the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

I wish you could have seen us together in the National Archives, hunched over a projector, examining film shot on D-Day.   I was studying the film as an historian, pointing out details, providing information to Brian who at the same time was explaining to me technical details about filming I never would have realized, looked for, or understood prior to my working with him.  For both of us there was almost a childlike excitement of discovery, while at the same time an ever evolving professional respect for each others expertise.

Throwing two professors together on the road for two weeks of intense work will either result in a disaster, or an even closer forging of bonds, in our case it was definitely the latter.   Brian's professionalism and his demands for excellence is above reproach.   His personal skills were wonderful to behold.   "Archive rats," the people who work and live in archives, are an unusual breed and Brian displayed his acting and directing talents, especially when "schmoozing" an 86-year-old archive director into revealing a couple of his "secrets," which led us to treasure troves of information buried within the complexities of the National Archives.   I only wish I had Brian with me while writing my dissertation, it would have knocked a couple of weeks off the laborious search process.

There is one other thing I'd like to write about in relationship to that trip before moving on to the more formal review of Brian and his work on campus and that is the experience of the road trips and two weeks spent in Ramada Inns.   We talked about everything, our lives, families, happy times, bad times, our views on faith, and even had a few arguments, (when you throw a super organized guy in with someone like me, there's bound to be a little sand in the gears at times!) 

The observation about Brian is this. . . there are few people in this world I trust and respect as much as him.  

His faith in Christ is the rock center of Brian's life, it shapes all that comes out of him.    I draw inspiration from that faith.

There is one other point in our personal relationship I feel compelled to touch on here.  I know that at times Brian might intimidate some because of his forthrightness, and that is an aspect of his character which I applaud, he is willing to ask hard questions, take difficult stands, to openly say what he feels is right and what he feels is wrong. . .all of that comes out of his heart felt desire to seek the Truth and to seek what is best not only for himself but for all around him.   Several times Brian and I have stood in dead opposition to each other on some issues, and yet throughout, what I admired the most was the fact that we could still embrace as friends.   An academic community, especially a Christian academic community needs that and should expect it.   For me Brian Fuller stands as a model of someone willing to ask hard questions and to freely and honestly voice his opinion, I wish there were more who are willing to do so in such an honest manner.

Quite simply, I think Brian's one of the best.  

First in relationship to students.    Our primary mission is suppose to be service to students, to teach not only in the classroom but also through example.   To set a role model not just as an academician but also as a Christian.   To push students to achieve more than they believed possible, and to prepare them for a life of service, not only to their Creator but for their nation as well.

With my door open just across the hall I get to see Brian in a way no other faculty member can observe.   I see and hear students from all of his classes and from his dramatics program and his efforts are second to none.   There is a warmth to his room, a sense of excitement and purpose.   At times he is sitting there laughing, joking but then ever so gently pushing and leading.   At other times he is a bit of the stern father figure, but that is always done with love and with a clear desire to see growth and learning.    He is a master at this.   There have even been times when we've played it as a team, both of us working on a student from different angles and always the motivation is to teach, to raise expectations, and to help our students grow.

In terms of scholarly excellence Brian shows an unrelenting resolve to achieve the highest possible standards.   Brian is the classic "first in, last out," at the office. Looking "across the hall," I will see him labor for hours on a new Power Point presentation, struggling to get it right, to incorporate the latest information and to do so in an engaging and challenging manner.    I'm pleased when a question will arise, he'll shout a query over to me, we then go in to a typical professorial debate on an issue, and then question resolved he dives back into his class preparations.

I've sat in on Brian's classes, drawn not out of any formal professional requirement, but simply because I wanted to see how he did things, and even to learn.   When Brian showed Birth of a Nation to a film class I was there, as a Civil War historian, to learn how my subject was interpreted on film and presented to our society fifty years after the end of that struggle, and to see how that film shaped the opinions later generations had about the War and Reconstruction.   I learned things that I never expected.

I've sat in on his famous debates, his speech classes, and of course his plays which have left me in awe.   Frankly, how he pulls it off with the limited budget available is beyond me.   I've seen students work themselves to hollow eyed exhaustion not only out of a desire to do it right, but even more movingly, because they love Brian and they want to earn his respect.

I should add here that across the years I know that I've gained a bit of a reputation around the community for my own presentations on the Civil War and WWII.  I must confess here that I feel like a charade at times.   If you must know the truth, the shadow of Brian Fuller was behind every one of my accomplishments.   It was Brian who taught me the technical skills of Power Point, of how to do sound editing, how to mix film, how to organize slide presentations, and how to combine all into a meaningful and effective package.   He has offered this help unstintingly and happily, even when it was an imposition on his own schedule.   I feel that there should be a slide at the end of every one of my programs, dedicating them to Brian, or at least declaring that the program was an "Across the Hall," productions.

In closing.   Yes he can be controversial at times, but in my book a professor isn't doing his job, a professor is taking the easy road if he doesn't stand up for what he believes, if he doesn't seek excellence, if he doesn't ask the hard questions and at times make a hard stand for what he believes is right.   

Respectfully,

Dr. William R. Forstchen
Associate Professor of History