Mentoring

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Committee Chair (49)

  • Po-jen Bono Shih, Ph.D., December 2022, STS Blacksburg, Engineering as Technology of Technology and the Subjugated Knowledge.
  • Seohyun Park, Ph.D., expected May 2022, STS Blacksburg, Dammed Nation: How Hydroengineering Transformed the Postwar Korean Waterscape (co-chair).
  • Jennifer Henderson, Ph.D., December 2016, STS Blacksburg, To Err on the Side of Caution:’ Ethical Dimensions of the National Weather Service Warning Process” (co-chair) (Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder).
  • Marcia Davitt, Ph.D., May 2015, STS Blacksburg, Priming the Pump with Grass, Trees, and Waste: How Biofuels Policy and Research Discourse are Shaping Regional and Global Habitats (co-chair). (Destination Areas Project Director, Office of the Provost, Virginia Tech).
  • William Mullis, Ph.D., May 2015, STS Greater Capital Region, The Establishment and Maintenance of Expertise in the Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce (Professor of Software Engineering, U.S. Defense Acquisitions University).
  • John Tucker, Ph.D., December 2013, STS Greater Capital Region, American Intelligence, Unwilling Technology Transfer, and the V-2 Missile: A Case Study in the Epistemology of Technical Knowledge (co-chair) (deceased).
  • Kacey Beddoes, Ph.D., December 2011, STS Blacksburg,  Practices of Brokering: Between STS and Feminist Engineering Education Research.
  • Kuo-Hui Chang, Ph.D., December 2010, STS Blacksburg, Engineering Construction as Community Formation: the High-speed Railway, Localized-democracy and Hybrid Culture in Taiwan (Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University).
  • Brent Jesiek  Ph.D., May 2007, STS Blacksburg, Between Discipline and Profession: A History of Persistent Instability in Computer Engineering. (Recipient, 2007 Outstanding Dissertation Award, Graduate School, Virginia Tech; Associate Professor, Engineering Education, Purdue University).
  • Wairimu Njambi, Ph.D., May 2001, Program STS Blacksburg, Science and the Debate over Female Circumcision (Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Sociology, Florida Atlantic Honors College).
  • Amy Crumpton, Ph.D., December 1998, STS Blacksburg, Epidemiology and Environmental Justice (Research Archivist, American Association for the Advancement of Science).
  • Juan Lucena, Ph.D., December 1996, STS Blacksburg, Making Policy for Making People: Manpower Policy at the National Science Foundation (Professor, Colorado School of Mines).
  • Juan Rogers, Ph.D., May 1996, STS Blacksburg, Multiple Discourses on Information Infrastructure (Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology).
  • Rafael Balderrama, Ph.D., May 1996, STS Blacksburg, Standardization in Agricultural Machinery (Professor of Sociology, Universidad Central de Venezuela).
  • Dey W. Watts, Ph.D., May 1995, Department of Landscape Architecture, An Ethnomethodological Study of Architectural Design (Professor of Geography, Indiana University of Pennsylvania).
  • Chung-Hsi Lin, Ph.D., May 1994, STS Blacksburg, The Politics of Development of Scientific Development in Taiwan: The Hepatitis B Control Program (Professor of Cultural Conservation, Yun Lin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan).
  • Maarten Heyboer, Ph.D., May 1992, STS Blacksburg, The Grass Counters: Range Management as Applied Science (Associate Professor, History, SUNY Polytechnic Institute).

(Note re M.S. degrees below: listed positions were immediately following completion)

  • Christopher Gewirtz, M.S., expected December 2021, STS Blacksburg.
  • Po-jen Shih, M.S., December 2016, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Samantha Fried, M.S., May 2016, STS Blacksburg, exam option (co-chair) (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Jennifer Henderson, M.S., December 2015, STS Blacksburg, exam option (co-chair) (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Sara Hood, M.S., December 2015, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Outreach Assistant, Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, California).
  • Kristen Koopman, M.S., May 2015, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Keith Johnson, M.S., May 2014, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Interpretive Ranger, National Park Service).
  • Merc Fox, M.S., May 2014, STS Blacksburg, exam option. (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Margaret Layne, M.S., May 2012, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Director, AdvanceVT & Faculty Projects, Virginia Tech).
  • Timothy Jennings, M.S., May 2012, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Sumitra Nair, M.S., May 2012, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Nicholas Sakellariou, M.S., May 2008, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, University of California, Berkeley — Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University).
  • Masanori Wada, M.S., December 2007, STS Blacksburg, “Engineering Education and the Spirit of Samurai at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, 1871-1886.” (Ph.D. student, Tokyo Institute of Technology – Associate Professor, Mie University, Japan).
  • Sharon Elber, M.S., December 2007, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS, Virginia Tech).
  • Cora Olson, M.S., May 2007, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, STS, Virginia Tech).
  • John Fiore, M.S., December 2004, STS Alexandria, exam option.
  • Amy Nichols, M.S., May 2003, STS Blacksburg, “Globalization on the Ground: An Ethnography of Volunteerism, Health, and Development in Rural Tanzania” (Ph.D. student, cultural anthropology, University of Virginia).
  • Brent Jesiek, M.S., May 2003, STS Blacksburg, “Of Meme and Metaphor: Following the Evolution of a Controversial Discipline” (Ph.D. student, STS Blacksburg, Virginia Tech).
  • Stephen Garber, M.S., January 2002, STS Falls Church, “Birds of a Feather?: How Politics and Culture Affected the Designs of the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran” (Staff Historian, NASA).
  • Krista Gile, M.S., May 2000, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, Statistics, University of Washington).
  • Angela Ragusa, M.S., May 2000, STS Blacksburg, exam option (Ph.D. student, Sociology, Virginia Tech).
  • Bingbing Yu, M.S., May 1999, STS Blacksburg, exam (Ph.D. student, Instructional Technology, Case Western Reserve University).
  • Ming-hui Hu, M.S., May 1997, STS Blacksburg, “Maintaining NASTRAN: The Politics and Technics of Aerospace Computing” (Ph.D. student, Department of History, UCLA).
  • Carmen Sears, M.S., December 1996, STS Blacksburg, “(Re)Visions of the Village.” (Senior Manager, Teloquent [software firm], Cambridge, Massachusetts).
  • Tobin White, M.S., May 1996, STS Blacksburg, “How to Do a Physics Problem: Negotiation of Student Identities in Undergraduate Physics Courses”  (Ph.D. student, Education, Stanford University).
  • Shannon Hegg, M.S., May 1995, STS Blacksburg, “A Guide to the Experiences of Undergraduate Women Engineers” (Engineer/planner for Microsoft, Inc.).
  • Chris Furlow, M.S., May 1993, STS Blacksburg, “The Islamization of Scientific Knowledge” (Ph.D. candidate, Anthropology, University of Florida).
  • Stephane Castonguay, M.S., May 1993, STS Blacksburg, “The Legitimation of Agrobiology in Quebec” (Ph.D candidate, History, University of Quebec at Montreal).
  • Virginia Salmon, M.S., May 1991, STS Blacksburg, “Technical Theatre and the Computer” (Librarian, state college, Tennessee).
  • Maarten Heyboer, M.S., September 1989, STS Blacksburg, “Knowledge Development in Applied Science: The Case of Range Management.” (see above)
  • Hong L. Oei, M.S., June 1989, STS Blacksburg, “A Study of Multi-Disciplinary Research Centers at Virginia Tech” (Ph.D. 1994, Public Administration and Policy, Virginia Tech. Senior staff person, National Science Foundation, The Netherlands).

Committee Member (42)

  • Annie Patrick, Ph.D., expected May 2022, , STS Blacksburg, Engaging with the Invisible:
    STS Groundwork in an Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
  • Jennifer Carter, Ph.D., expected May 2022, STS Greater Capital Region, Undoing Standards.
  • Marie Stettler Kleine, Ph.D., December 2020, STS Blacksburg, Proselytizing Problem-Solving:
    The Religious and Secular Values of Engineering for Good.
  • Seungmi Chung, Ph.D., May 2020, An Expert? Or One of Us?: The Positioning of the Korean Astronaut in the Transitional Period between Catch-up and Post Catch-up.
  • Samantha Fried, Ph.D., May 2019, STS Blacksburg, Remote Sensing, Instrumentation, and Cyborg Infrastructures.
  • Kari Zacharias, Ph.D., December 2018, STS Blacksburg, Becoming Transdisciplinary: Research, Innovation, and Belonging in SEAD.
  • Amy Kaminski, Ph.D., May 2015, STS Greater Capital Region, Sharing the Shuttle: NASA’s Engagement of the American Public after Apollo.
  • Yong-Seok Park, Ph.D., May 2014, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Theory and Methodology for Forming Creative Design Teams in a Globally Distributed and Culturally Diverse Environment.
  • Jongmin Lee, Ph.D., May 2013,  STS Blacksburg, Regulatory Engineering at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: 1970-1980.
  • Cora Olson, Ph.D., May 2013, STS Blacksburg, Ab-normal Athletes: Technomedical Productions of Gender, Sports, Fairness and Doping.
  • Jonson Miller, Ph.D., December 2008, STS Blacksburg, Citizen Soldiers and Professional Engineers: The Antebellum Engineering Culture of the Virginia Military Institute.
  • Absalom Phiri, Ph.D., May 2008, Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech, Science Education and Indigenous Knowledge in Malawi.
  • Jane Lehr, Ph.D., December 2006, STS Blacksburg, Science Education & Non-Scientists: Social Justice, Scientific Literacy, and the Remaking of Democratic Citizenship.
  • Laura DeNardis, Ph.D., May 2006, STS Alexandria, Politics of the Next Generation Internet.
  • John McGlaughlin, Ph.D., May 2006, Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech, Social Shaping of Biotechnology in the Classroom.
  • Gabriella Coleman, Ph.D. June 2005, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, The Free Software Movement.
  • Dean Nieusma, Ph.D., December 2004, STS Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Appropriate Expertise: Alternative Energy Technology Design in Sri Lanka.
  • Maria Rentetzi, Ph.D., May 2003, STS Blacksburg, Crossing Boundaries: The Gendered Production of Knowledge at the Institute for Radium Research in Vienna, 1920-1938.
  • Stephen Poulson, Ph.D., December 2002, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Islamic Sovereignty as a Social Movement Frame in 20th Century Iran.
  • Annette Huston, Ph.D., December 2001, STS Blacksburg, Carillion: A Corporate System of Managed Health Care.
  • Brenda Brand, Ph.D., May 1998, Teaching and Learning, Multiculturalism in Science Teaching and Learning.
  • Seungho Jung, Ph.D., December 1997, Department of Industrial Systems Engineering, Total Quality Management between Organizations.
  • Charlotte Webb, Ph.D., December 1997, STS Blacksburg, A History of the Virginia Academy of Science.
  • Stuart Laughton, Ph.D., May 1996, Department of Computer Science, An Ethnography of Internet-based Applications in Education.
  • Govindan Parayil, Ph.D., May 1990, STS Blacksburg, Conceptualizing Technological Change: A Trans-Systemic Approach.
  • Steve Downes, Ph.D., May 1990, STS Blacksburg, Prospects for a Cognitive Science of Science.
  • Michael Riordan, Ph.D., June 1989, Department of Accounting, A Profile of the Accounting Profession.
  • Brent Voelker, M.S., May 2011, STS Alexandria.
  • Mike Conners, M.S., May 2011, STS Greater Capital Region, “Surveillance and Society.”
  • Chris Hays, M.S., May 2009, STS Blacksburg, exam option.
  • Allison Martin, M.S., May 2007, STS Blacksburg, “Breaking News or Business Novelty: Technology Coverage in Modern American Print Media.”
  • May 2002, M.S., Frankie Bausch, STS Blacksburg, “Examining One’s Own: Reflexivity and Critique in STS.”
  • Victoria Friedensen, M.S., December 1999,  STS Falls Church, “Nuclear Policy in Space.”
  • Joseph Kestel, M.S., May 1999, STS Blacksburg, “Don’t Take My Kodachrome Away: Eastman Kodak and the Digital Age.”
  • Sherry Dawson, M.S., May 1988,  Department of Sociology, “The Meanings of Literacy.”
  • Maureen McArthur, M.S., May 1997, , STS Blacksburg, “Entrepreneurial Activity in the University.”
  • Michael Seltzer, M.S., August 1993, STS Blacksburg, “Post-World War II Controversies over Radiation Testing.”
  • Tracy Glenn, M.S., May 1991, STS Blacksburg, “Language Change in Chaos Theory.”
  • William Lynch, M.S., August 1989, STS Blacksburg, “Politics in Hobbes’ Mechanics: A Case Study in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge.”
  • Adam Serchuk, M.S., May 1989, STS Blacksburg, “Connectionism, Disciplinary Identity, and Continuity.”
  • David M. Bott, M.S., December 1988, STS Blacksburg, “Program Officers at the National Science Foundation: A Case Study of the Biological Instrumentation Program.”
  • Robert Griffiths, M.S., June 1988, STS Blacksburg, “Drug Lag in the Chemical Industry.”