John Alfred Heitmann

John Heitmann grew up in Kenmore, New York, and later received degrees from Davidson College (B.S., 1970), Clemson University (MA, 1974), and Johns Hopkins University (PhD, 1983). An historian of science and technology and former chemist, he joined the faculty at the University of Dayton in 1983, where he is currently a professor of history. John has several loves in his life beyond his wife, Kaye and daughter, Lisa. He loves to play tennis, and does so competitively, although old age has seeming hit him like a ton of bricks as fragile knees have slowed him down on the court the past year or so. He also loves cars, going back to his first, a 1959 MGA, and his current vehicle, a 1971 Porsche 911 T Targa. As he has discovered over the years, John enjoys driving cars, but only to a lesser degree does he find joy in working on them. He does so, however, often with a moderate degree of frustration. After years about writing on historical topics of little direct interest to him, John now writes on automobiles, the road, and anything that connects to his life in the present and past. You can catch up to him by reading his blog at http://automobileandamericanlife.blogspot.com/.