John Truden earned his PhD in US History from the University of Oklahoma in 2023. Between 2023 and 2025, he was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Native American and Indigenous Studies at the Center for the Futures of Native Peoples, an interdisciplinary academic unit at Dickinson College that examines the college's relationship with nearby Carlisle Indian Industrial School. In 2025, he accepted an Assistant Professor of History position at Sul Ross State University. John Truden teaches a wide variety of classes, including histories of the nineteenth and twentieth century United States, Native America, the North American West, and North American Borderlands.

Dr. Truden's research focuses on intersections between White settlers and Indigenous communities in the United States. His first book - under contract with the University of Nebraska Press - is "Indian Territory’s Legacy: Indigenous-Settler Partnerships and Persistence in Oklahoma, 1875-2020." His second project will examine political and cultural change in Native America during the 1970s. Outside of academia, John and his wife Emily enjoy traveling, trying new foods, reading together, and playing with their dog, Ruffles.