Anadarko Petroleum Company Presidential Professor
hheyck@ou.edu
(405) 325-2213
Physical Sciences Room 625
Associate Professor and John H. and Drusa B. Cable Chair, History of Science Collections
kmagruder@ou.edu
(405) 325-2213
Physical Sciences Room 625
Professor
I specialize in early modern science and medicine, history of the book, women’s history and Reformation history. My first book, Adam and Eve in the Protestant Reformation (Cambridge University Press, 2010), won a prize for best book in Reformation history. I have published articles on early science and medicine in Isis, The Journal of the History of Astronomy, and Renaissance Quarterly, as well as several chapters in edited, peer-reviewed volumes. I have also written for popular audiences at The Atlantic, Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, Popula, The Public Medievalist and Nursing Clio. My current book project is a study of how a seemingly obscure medieval astronomy text, Johannes de Sacrobosco’s De sphaera, shaped modern science.
Professor Emeritus
Brian E. and Sandra O'Brien Presidential Professor, Emeritus
My research focuses on the formation of scientific disciplines and discussions of the nature of science in the middle ages. I have investigated the pedagogical practices of late-medieval universities and the tendency to revise texts, especially commentaries on Aristotle and theological works like commentaries on Peter Lombard’s Sentences. In 2020, my catalogue of 90 manuscripts from the Saint-Bertin collection appeared as Science in the Monastery: Texts, Manuscripts and Learning at Saint-Bertin (Brepols). My current project addresses two medical works by the early thirteenth-century physician, Gilles of Corbeil. Because Gilles considered poetry the ideal mnemonic device for teaching, he summarized contemporary knowledge about pulse and urine in Versus de pulsibus and Versus de urinis; over the next four centuries they were transmitted across Europe and acquired several commentaries. To date, I have found more than 300 manuscript copies of the texts, which I plan to assess for their filiation, in preparation for a new edition of the poems.
I have also been interested in creating electronic tools for scholars interested in the medieval scholastic tradition. For several years I have been compiling a bio- and bibliographical database of medieval commentators on Aristotle’s works and Peter Lombard’s Sentences, and I am also the 1330-1360 section chair for a project to revise and augment Friedrich Stegmüller’s Repertorium commentariorum in Sententias Petri Lombardi sponsored by the Société internationale pour l’étude de la philosophie médiévale.
My research has been supported by a number of grants and fellowships. I have received three Fulbright Research Fellowships: at Oxford University (1988-89), the Université de Paris I (Sorbonne) (2005-2006), and the Bibliothèque d’Agglomération de Saint-Omer (2014-2015). With funding from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, I was Directeur de recherche associé at the Sorbonne in 1993-94. Other grants or fellowships have been awarded by the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship Program at St. Louis University, the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Huntington Library, the Neil Ker Memorial Fellowship Program of the British Academy and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. I have also received $455,000 from the Rockefeller and Andrew W. Mellon Foundations in support of institutional pre- and postdoctoral fellowship programs at OU.
Curator Emeritus, History of Science Collections, Professor of Bibliography Emeritus
My research has focused on the history of women in science. My books include For the Birds: American Ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice, University of Oklahoma Press, 2018 and Searching the Stars: The Story of Caroline Herschel, History Press 2008.
Hudson/Torchmark Presidential Professor, Emeritus
A California native, I came to Oklahoma in 1967. I enjoyed teaching a broad range of History of Science courses at both undergrad and graduate levels, and served as Department Chair for a total of 14 years. Most of my research has addressed the early development of geology. I chaired the U.S. National Committee on the History of Geology (1990–93), and was President of the History of the Earth Sciences Society (1997–98) and the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (2012–16). My work in the history of geology has been recognized through awards from the national geological societies of three countries: The Geological Society of London’s Friedman Medal (1998), the Geological Society of America’s Rabbitt Award (2007), and the Société Géologique de France’s Prix Wegmann (2018). In 2024 I became the fourth recipient of the IUGS Vladimir V. Tikhomirov Award. My OU honors include the Glenn Couch Scholars’ Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1969), and the Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service (1994).
Associate Professor of Modern Chinese and Asian History and International & Area Studies,
Harold J. Newman Chair for US-China Issues, and Co-Director of Institute for US-China Issues.
Associate Professor of History
Associate Professor, Department of History,
Schusterman Chair in Modern Israel Studies,
Director of the Schusterman Center for Judaic & Israel Studies
Associate Professor of the History of Medicine and Food Studies, Department of History,
Director of the University of Oklahoma Medical Humanities Program
I study the history of science, technology, and empire, specifically the study, extraction, and use of fossil fuels in colonial settings. I'm interested in how fossil fuels are understood in the sciences of geology and ecology, as well as the cultural importance of fuel/energy for the people who extract them. Primarily looking at the late 19th and early 20th century, my research asks how the science and extraction of energy sources was used to reinforce (settler)colonial control of Northern/Arctic environments through political and cultural means.
I am a doctoral candidate in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine program at the University of Oklahoma. As a former technical writer and perpetual sci-fi fan, my research revolves around popular science communication and education efforts in 20th century America – especially those concerning space science and technology. I am currently working on two projects: the first analyzes artistic depictions of artificial habitats like space colonies and undersea laboratories, and the second studies “extracurricular” space education at sites like museums and planetariums. I specialize in digital and public history methodologies, as well as the methods and theories of American studies, art history, and environmental history.
Paul Kelley Vieth is a Ph.D. student in the University of Oklahoma’s Department of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine focusing on 20th-century Latin American agricultural history. He received his M.A. from the University of Oklahoma in the History of Science (2018). He received his Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma in International Security Studies with an emphasis on China (2013) and History with a minor in the History of Science (2015). His research interests include alternatives in sustainable agriculture; digital humanities and data visualization; and the democratization of information production and consumption.
