Jennifer Mittelstadt

Jennifer Mittelstadt is a Professor of History at Rutgers University since 2010 and currently serves as Associate Department Chair. Her research focuses on the intersections of the U.S. state, political economy, women and gender history, social movements, military institutions, and foreign affairs. She has held prestigious fellowships at the Guggenheim Foundation, the Dorothy and Lewis Cullman Center, and the Woodrow Wilson Center.

• Ph.D., University of Michigan

Her scholarship explores the paradoxes of liberal reform, the militarization of welfare, and grassroots political engagement in U.S. foreign policy. She is the author/editor of four books, including From Welfare to Workfare (2005) and The Rise of the Military Welfare State (2015), which examine how social policy and military institutions shape civil society and gender norms.

Recent publications examine military privatization, demographic shifts in armed forces, and gendered welfare frameworks. She serves as Series Editor for Power, Politics, and the World at Penn Press and has provided expert legal testimony for the Organization of American Historians.

• Major Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship (2022), Cullman Center Fellowship (2020), Harold K. Johnson Chair (2017), Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow (2008)
• Professional Affiliations: American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, Society for Military History, Coordinating Council on Women’s History

Mittelstadt teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on U.S. military history, law and history, women's history, and transnational social movements. Her research has been funded by multiple institutions, including the New York Public Library and the US Army War College.