It’s all Greek for Dr. Dave Lunt, Assistant Professor of History at Southern Utah University. A specialist in ancient athletics, Dave intensely studies the effects of sports in society, specifically Greece. He loves studying this 2,000-year-old topic because of the ways that sports reveal cause-and-effect in ancient (and modern) societies, as well as the human factors that drive historic events.

Dr. Dave Lunt became interested in the history of athletics in graduate school. At the time he was coaching high school football and enjoyed watching and playing sports. When it came time to write his thesis one of his mentors advised him to write about what he loved. Lunt decided to write his thesis on sports and politics in ancient Greece.

Ever since that day, he has been researching sports history. “I told myself I’d keep studying sports until I get tired of it,” he said. “It’s been over 18 years since that day and I’m still not tired of it.”

Lunt earned his Ph.D. in History at Penn State University and his Master of Ancient History from the University of Utah. He also studied at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 2006.