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Biography

Dr. Anthony R. Santoro is Distinguished Professor of History and President Emeritus at Christopher Newport University. He was born in Chicago in 1939 to two physician parents. His father, the late Anthony V. Santoro, M.D., who served in the army during WWII as a Battalion Surgeon in the 95th Infantry Division, introduced him to the love of history.

Dr. Santoro is a specialist on National Socialist German history, the history of ancient Egypt, and the history of the Byzantine Empire. He also works extensively with historical film and teaches two film studies courses, History on Film and The History of Propaganda. Dr. Santoro has taught seminars on international terrorism and a writing seminar entitled The Fascist and Nazi Aesthetic.

Dr. Santoro’s academic areas of interest are autocracy and totalitarianism, political propaganda, and the art and architecture of autocratic and totalitarian states. He received his A.B. in history and classics from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, his M.A. in history from the University of California, and his Ph.D., also in history, from Rutgers University. His doctoral dissertation is entitled Byzantium and the Arabs During the Isaurian Period, 717-802 A.D. Dr. Santoro is the co-author of An Eyewitness to History: The Short History of Nikephoros the Patriarch of Constantinople, Hellenic College Press, 1994 (ISBN 0-017653-38-6). His first book, Theophanes Chronographia: A Chronicle of Eighth Century Byzantium, Volume 1 of the Sources of Isaurian History series, was published by The Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies Conference in 1982 (Library of Congress Book Number 82-82694). Dr. Santoro has also authored a number of articles in volumes 1-9 of The International Military Encyclopedia, published by the Academic International Press. Dr. Santoro’s most recent publication involves a 2006 project for Synapse Films and the Film Preserve, Ltd., a revised DVD and VHS production of Leni Riefenstahl’s famous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress, Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens). He is the General Editor and historical consultant for the film, the co-translator for the German to English soundtrack, and the English language voice over commentator on the third track of the DVD. He also did all of the identifying sub-titles throughout the film. Dr. Santoro is collaborating with a colleague on a translation and commentary of Julius Streicher’s infamous Nazi children’s book, Der Giftpilz (The Poison Mushroom). He has given numerous papers at scholarly conferences throughout his career, which spans more than half a century. Dr. Santoro has acted as a consultant on China to both The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Virginia Community College System. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of State Office of Overseas Schools for the region of Mexico, Colombia, and the Caribbean. He has taught in Egypt and lectured in China and Japan. Dr. Santoro is an honorary Professor of History at Foshan University, Guangdong Province, Peoples Republic of China. For many years Dr. Santoro taught a summer course in the United Kingdom entitled Egypt in the UK in collaboration with Egyptologists from the British Museum in London and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Before coming to CNU as President, Dr. Santoro was the President of St. Joseph’s College in Maine and Vice President at two other institutions in New York State. He has also served on a number of boards and agencies, such as The Virginia Symphony and WHRO Public Radio and Television.

Dr. Santoro is currently President of the National Genocide Education Project and Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Reiff Center at Christopher Newport University dedicated to the study of genocide, human rights abuses, and conflict resolution. He is past president of the Virginia War Museum Foundation and a Life Member of the American Historical Association and the Virginia War Museum. Dr. Santoro is a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a former Director of the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads. He was awarded the Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 1992 and inducted in the same year into the United States Field Artillery Association Honorable Order of Saint Barbara.