College of Arts and Sciences

Education:

• BA, History and Economics, Luther College
• MA, Hagley Program, History of Technology, University of Delaware
• PhD, Hagley Program, History of Technology, University of Delaware

Curriculum Vitae:

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Research Interests:

• history of technology, business history
• comparative industrialization and transnational history
• policy and politics of industry; U.S. patent history

Bio:

My interests center on technology in the history of business and industry, and I especially concentrate on the relations between government and industry. My current research focuses on U.S. patent policy from 1900-1950, an era shaped by big business, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Comparative history is an excellent way to see how different cultural values and institutions influence similar developments in different places and times, and I use comparative history extensively in my teaching and research. In a related vein, I am also very interested in the flow of technological ideas and expertise across national borders, primarily in U.S. and European history since 1800. Courses I teach regularly include HIST 285 (Technology in Comparative Perspective), HIST 315 (History of Capitalism), HIST 316 (American Business History), HIST 235 (The Great War), HIST 296 (Research Methods in History), and also HIST 202 & 203 (U.S. History).

Teaching Awards

2014 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching
The university-wide senior faculty teaching award

2006 Allen Rothwarf Award for Teaching Excellence
The university-wide junior faculty teaching award

Selected Publications:

• The American Synthetic Organic Chemicals Industry: War and Politics, 1910-1930. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014.
• Winner of the 2015 Ralph Gomory Prize from the Business History Conference