Howdy-Ho, Heffron!

This year, the Gilman History Department is lucky to add Mr. Anthony Heffron to its list of skilled and knowledgeable history teachers.

Mr. Heffron attended Quinnipiac University as a history major for his undergraduate education. He later went on to complete his Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, where he is currently pursuing a PhD in Islamic History. Mr. Heffron has published impressive works in the Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, The Penguin Book of Exorcisms, and The Encyclopaedia of Islam.

However, not only is Mr. Heffron highly educated, but he is also a highly experienced teacher, with over a decade of experience. He began his teaching career at the college level, first as a teaching assistant at the University of Chicago, and then as a lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Ithaca College. In 2021, he transitioned to teaching secondary school at Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Pennsylvania, where he taught classes on the Ancient Mediterranean World, World History, World Religions, and electives on the modern Middle East.

Apart from teaching, Mr. Heffron has been a coach and mentor for years. While teaching at Mercersburg Academy, Mr. Heffron was an adviser, a dorm parent, and a coach of the school's cross country and track teams.

Mr. Heffron’s first impression of Gilman was at an overnight soccer camp as a kid. Some players were from Gilman, and he recalled, “talking about Gilman's strong lacrosse program.” He was also drawn to Gilman by its “academic rigor and its strong sense of identity and community.” He is excited to start the school year as a teacher, teaching four sections of World Cultures; a coach, assisting with the cross country and track programs; and as a parent, with his son Jude entering the second grade.

During his free time, Mr. Heffron enjoys spending time with his family, reading, writing, running, and playing soccer with his son. His favorite historical era is the “rise and expansion of the Islamic caliphate in the seventh and eighth centuries,” and his favorite historical figures are polymaths, rebels, and religious leaders of any era. If he were not a teacher, Mr. Heffron would be a journalist, having worked as an interim reporter for an alt-weekly paper in Ithaca, NY.

Please join The News in giving Mr. Heffron a strong welcome into our great community!