Jacob Whitehead (UTC History ’23) was recently recognized as the Most Outstanding Graduate Student in History at Middle Tennessee State University for his Masters research.
Jacob Whitehead graduated from UTC in 2023 and knew he wanted to continue with research and historical scholarship. He chose to pursue an M.A. in History at Middle Tennessee State University, where he’s been working on an ambitious project mapping the famous Manila Galleon trade routes that criss-crossed the Pacific during the era of Spanish colonialism. Using a creative mix of archival analysis and ArcGIS mapping, Jacob has been making significant contributions to how we understand this foundational piece of early modern world history. His project has enabled him to carry out research abroad, including recently spending two months in Mexico at various sites. Not only is he finishing up his M.A. at MTSU (and winning awards along the way), but Jacob’s also been able to present some of his findings at multiple prestigious academic conferences, including the annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies (Salt Lake City, UT) and the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies (Mexico City).
Congratulations to Jacob on all his awesome accomplishments and best of luck with the future and teaching!