Within two years of its founding, Steven A. Leibo in a newsletter post described H-Net as being "among the most dynamic and effective contributions" to the internationalization of scholarship.

[1] H-Net began in 1992 as an initiative of Prof. Richard J. Jensen when he was at the History department at the University of Illinois Chicago, to assist historians "to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to share information on access to library catalogs and other electronic databases; and to test new ideas and share comments on current historiography.

[7] H-Net is now organized as an international consortium of scholars in the humanities and social sciences and its networks are hosted by Michigan State University.

[citation needed] In 2023, the H-Net president was Lorna L. Zukas, Professor of Sociology and Global Studies at National University (California).

[citation needed] In 2024, the H-Net president is Evan Rothera, Assistant Professor History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.