By Mike Stepanovich

When John Pinheiro graduated from CSUB with his bachelor’s in history and religious studies in 1992 and then his master’s in history in 1994, “I had no idea I would be a professor, let alone get to meet a sitting president as a result of my work.”

But in fact, both things happened. He went on to earn his doctorate in history from the University of Tennessee, and now is an assistant professor of history at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Alumni Snapshots, spring 2005).

Then as a result of his scholarship as an historian, “this past year I appeared on CSPAN and I recently met with President Bush.”

Historical editing isn't the sort of thing that usually gets a man noticed, Ackerman-Haywood wrote. "It's kind of like being a medieval monk," Pinheiro said.

But the 36-year-old doesn't regret the three years he dedicated to transcribing and annotating the papers of President George Washington while working as a documentary editor at the University of Virginia. His effort scored him a meeting with President George Bush.

"We met him in the Oval Office, which was really a wonderful experience," Pinheiro said. "He was very friendly and very knowledgeable about Washington. I didn't realize he had such a keen interest in history."

Pinheiro said being part of the editing team on the grant funded project was a great opportunity because their work never will become obsolete.