What can you do with a history major? If you take Cornell alumnus David Green as your case study, your answer might be “whatever you want to do.” David’s history journey began at Cornell, progressed through academia, pivoted to a finance career, and came full circle with a return to Cornell.
David earned his Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1962, completing his honors thesis in the Department of History under the supervision of the esteemed Professor Walter F. LaFeber. After completing a Master of Arts degree at Standford University, David returned to Cornell to join the history graduate program and become Professor LaFeber’s first PhD student. Under LaFeber’s tutelage, David completed his doctoral thesis “U.S. Foreign Policy and Latin American Economic Development, 1940-1948” and received his PhD in 1967.
Following a traditional history PhD path, David accepted an Assistant Professor of History position at Ohio State University before moving on to the University of Saskatchewan in 1969. Settling into an academic career of teaching and historical research, David was promoted to Associate Professor in 1972 and then to Professor of History in 1977. During this time, he published The Containment of Latin America: A History of the Myths and Realities of the Good Neighbor Policy and Shaping Political Consciousness: The Language of Politics in America from McKinley to Reagan.
After 17 years in academia, David decided to leave the University of Saskatchewan in 1985 and to embark on a new career as a financial advisor. Ever the educator, David helped his clients to better understand and manage their finances. Starting with many initial clients who were university professors, he grew his client base and eventually founded his own advisory firm. David leveraged the critical thinking and objective analysis skills he learned from studying history to better manage his clients’ investments.
After a successful career in the financial services industry, David renewed his connection with Cornell to pursue the ever-popular retirement pastime of teaching a summer history course for Cornell’s School of Continuing Education. From 1991 through summer 2025, David has presented his course titled “Words as Weapons,” which examines the evolution of language as a tool of political power, focusing upon the ongoing struggles to shape American political consciousness as well as the role of mass media in reflecting and influencing those struggles. In addition to his teaching, David co-authored a chapter for Thinking Otherwise, a volume of essays published in 2024 honoring the teaching and scholarship of his teacher and mentor Walter LaFeber.
Maybe the better question is “What can’t you do with a history major?”
