Sean J. Flynn, a graduate of South Dakota State University, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Texas Tech University. Since 1999, he has served as professor of history at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he was awarded the United Methodist Church General Board of Higher Education and Ministry Teaching Excellence Award and the Clarke Award for Teaching Excellence.

Professor Flynn is the author of Chief, Marine Corps Warrior: The Life of John P. “Pat” Flynn, Jr., a biography of his father, a Marine Corps aviator decorated for his heroism while a prisoner of the Chinese during the Korean War. Flynn’s other writings examine such topics as the contributions of ethnic groups to the U.S. Armed Forces, Midwestern conservatism, American Indian politics, the Bill of Rights, and the political career of Senator Karl E. Mundt.