A biographical article about me by Reine Degarie in Gazette of the University of Ottawa (February 7, 1997), p. 5.
I am a Historian of Science with broad interdisciplinary interests and special expertise in the history of molecular biology and biotech; cultural memory; gender politics in science and society; and science policy (see Publications by Subject Area). I live in an international space composed of five core-countries in which I have studied, taught, conducted the bulk of my original research, and continue to visit often (US, Israel, France, UK, Canada); and countries in which I give invited lectures or attend conferences, repeatedly (Italy, Sweden, Mexico, among others). I am fully trilingual (speak, read, and write) in English, Hebrew, and French, further seeking to improve my basic knowledge of Spanish. My formal education covers science (chemistry and biology), philosophy, sociology, and history.
I have taught as a Visiting Associate Professor of History of Science and Women’s Studies at UC-Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and l’Université d’Ottawa, and continue to seek the dream position that will combine all my widespread research, teaching, and outreach interests in a glorious package. Internationally known by my versatile research agenda and critical outlook (See p. 3 in CV & List of Publications
for highlights), I remain a freeborn lioness (remember “Born Free”) forever roaming the global academic jungle in search of ecosystems free of alligators, snakes, and related fauna.
At the present time I am diligently working on a book, DNA at 50: History and the Ethics of Memory, (2003, 1953) that challenges the historiography of one of the greatest discoveries in the second half of the 20th Century. My other current projects include research on the under-representation of women in science (see Women in Science: The 2005–06 Debate); and a new, non-profit think tank, Scientific Legacies, providing advice on strategic planning for scientific anniversaries.
My small family includes Alan whom I met at U. Penn in Philly shortly after my arrival in the US as a doctoral student; and Estee, internationally known as the child who climbed on the furniture in a castle in England, prompting the guards who failed to catch the then 18 months old runner to utter in despair that “only an American child could do something so terrible!” (Those who remember that “incident” from a BSHS-HSS meeting will be glad to know that Estee survived her reputation and is now a junior at Brandeis, keeping her pre-med option open and delighting in student health activism)
When I am not travelling, I live in Belmont, MA, 10 minutes from Harvard Square, in Greater Boston, home of the Tea Party, where colleagues and friends are always welcome. Recent news include: a high school reunion in Haifa on 9-29-2005 where I found myself among those who look better now than in high school; a conference on the history of molecular biology in Berlin (10-15-2005); a dual session on the history of women in science at the Annual HSS Meeting in Minneapolis, 11-4&5-2005 (more at www.hssonline.org); a symposium on “Historicide and Reiteration” at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands (Program), February 9–10, 2007; and the AHA 2007 Annual Meeting, Session 39 (Women in Science—Historical Lessons, my slides), Friday, January 5, 9:30–11:30 A.M. Best wishes for a happy, healthy and productive academic year 2006–07!