Family ties fuel local historian's interest in World War I

NILES — To her core, Molly Sergi is a historian whose particular passion is World War I.

Sergi, of McKinley Heights, is a full-time assistant professor of history at Kent State University’s Geauga Campus and head of its history department, of which – she said with a laugh – has a staff of one: herself. She also teaches history online.

Teaching and researching history are part of what she does, but Sergi said she most likes to “live and experience history.”

To that end, Sergi and her husband, Vincent, who owns Sergi Construction Co., and daughter, Isabella, 13, a student at Niles Middle School, have traveled all over the world.

Sergi, 50, was born in Youngstown, a daughter of Dennis and Christine McNamara of Niles, moved to California as a child and came back to the area in the early 1980s She graduated in 1982 from Niles McKinley High School.

She received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in history, both from Youngstown State University, and a doctorate in history from Kent State University.

Sergi teaches at KSU because “it has a fantastic history program” and it enables her to “focus on things that particularly interest me,” such as World War I.

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com