Edward Simmons

Born in Savannah, Ga. in 1943, Dr. Edward Gordon Simmons has spent most of his life in Georgia. Graduating with honors from Savannah High School, he attended Mercer University and then did graduate study at Vanderbilt University where he earned an M.A. and a Ph.D.

He taught history at Appalachian State University in North Carolina for one year before being drafted to serve during the Vietnam era. Choosing the Air Force, he served in California and South Dakota before ending his service at Warner Robins in Georgia.

Finding little job opportunity for college history teachers in 1973, he began working for the Georgia Department of Human Resources and taught history courses for colleges in the Atlanta area on a part-time basis. His 34 year career in government service included the development and implementation of a management training program, serving as consultant and trainer for the top level of management of Georgia's largest agency, and participating as training manager in the development and implementation of two major statewide computer systems that eliminated the issuance of state benefits by paper checks and prepared state systems for the year 2000.

Simmons retired from state service in 2005. In 2010, he returned to classroom teaching on a part-time basis with Brenau University, teaching continuing education courses for retirees and then teaching American History online to Brenau students all over the world. In the fall of 2011, he began teaching American History, Western Civilization, and World History on a part-time basis at Georgia Gwinnett College in addition to teaching at Brenau.

He believes that historical skills, such as appropriate use of evidence-based thinking, are increasingly essential for students who rely increasingly on social media replete with unsubstantiated, divisive, and sometimes weaponized misinformation. Using historical skills as training for citizenship is an emphasis in all his survey history courses.

Simmons loves to teach history and religious subjects to adults of all ages. He is especially energized by the use of advanced technology and a focus on excellence in classroom teaching at Georgia Gwinnett College.

• Doctorate – history – Vanderbilt University
• Master’s – history – Vanderbilt University
• Bachelor’s – history – Mercer University

• Big History
• Study of the Old and New Testaments
• The American Civil War

• Author of "Talking Back to the Bible: A Historian's Approach to Bible Study," recipient of the 2017 Illumination Gold Medal Award for Spirituality.