The History Teaching Alliance has announced the appointment of Dr. Anthony J. Beninati as Director, effective July 1, 1991.

The HTA was established in 1985 to foster community-based collaboration among history professionals and to enhance the teaching of history. The American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the National Council for the Social Studies jointly sponsor the HTA with its institutional sponsor, the University of Florida at Gainesville. It is also one of a select group of programs sponsored by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Dr. Beninati received the PhD in Latin American history from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and also holds an M.B.A. in marketing from Iona College, New Rochelle.

Prior to this appointment, he was a member of the Social Science and Business faculty at Bergen Community College, Paramus, NJ (1975–85), and program director for business and industry at Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL (1985–87). For the past four years, he held positions in the private sector in sales and marketing. As a 1981 NEH Summer Seminar Grant recipient, he studied at UF under distinguished anthropologist Dr. Charles Wagley. He has also taught at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia and at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil.

More than 1,500 teachers, administrators, and public historians have participated in sixty-nine separate HTA projects in thirty states since 1985. Programs attract history professionals from K–12 and post-secondary settings, museums, libraries, archives, and professional organizations. Each alliance features a two- to three-week summer institute on select topics with guest presentations by specialists in the field. Regular meetings follow during the academic year to enhance implementation of project materials and themes.

Alliances currently funded by the HTA include programs at the University of Pittsburgh, the Library of Congress, the University of the Pacific, and Oklahoma State University, along with seven others.

In assuming leadership of the HTA, Dr. Beninati seeks to strengthen the financial base of the organization through the creation of a viable endowment for the HTA. A 1990 NEH Challenge grant awarding matching funds portends the fulfillment of this goal by 1993.