Michigan TechSocial Sciences

 People of Social Sciences
Social Sciences Home People Features Undergraduate Graduate Research and Scholarship Careers Contacts and Search
 

People

  

Staff | Faculty | Visiting Faculty | Graduate Students
Bruce Seely

Bruce E. Seely

Chair of Social Sciences

Professor of History
Ph.D., University of Delaware

Department of Social Sciences
Office Location: 227 Academic Offices
Office Phone: 906.487.2113
Email: bseely@mtu.edu

Curriculum Vitae
Word Format

Bruce E. Seely is a historian of technology who came to Michigan Tech in the fall of 1986. He had taught at Texas A&M University for five years before that. Since arriving at MTU, he has served in a variety of professional positions, including Secretary of the Society for the History of Technology (1990-1995), University Senate President (1997-2000), and Program Director for Science and Technology Studies at the National Science Foundation, (2000-2002). He became department chair in August 2002.

Bruce has taught courses in this main field as well as in history of science, American history, Western Civilization, and science and technology studies. His research, and related books and articles are eclectic and have won five awards. Topics of interest include the history of engineering and engineering education; transportation technology, including roads and railroads with a focus on American highway engineers; and the iron and steel industry in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Professional Affiliations

Society for the History of Technology
SHOT Fiftieth Annivesary Committee, 2005-
           Secretary Search Committee (Chair), 2003
Executive Council, 1998-2000
Abbott Payson Usher Prize Committee, 1997-1999
Ad hoc Committee on Journal Publisher, 1997
Kranzberg Prize Selection Committee, 1996-97
Secretary and Newsletter Editor, 1990-1995
Representative to ACLS, Conference of Administrative Officers, 1990-1995
Member, Secretary's Liaison Committee with HSS, 4S, PSA, & AAHM, 1990-1995
Abbott Payson Usher Prize Committee, 1988-1990
Technology Studies and Education Committee, 1987-1990
Ad hoc Committee on History of Technology in Engineering Education, 1987-1988
Commentator at paper sessions, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003

Public Works Historical Society
Board of Directors, 1992-present
President-elect, 1999-2000
President, 2000-2001
Top Public Works Projects of the Century Committee, 1999-2000

Business History Conference
Board of Directors, 1992-1995

History of Science Society
Osiris Editorial Board, 2002-2004

           Transportation Research Board History Committee, 1999-

                 co-chair, 2007-

Society for Industrial Archeology
American Society for Engineering Education
Organization of American Historians

Awards

  • Sterling Olmsted Award for making significant contributions in the teaching and administering of liberal education in engineering education, 2004.
  • William Elgin Wickenden Award, American Society for Engineering Education, for the best article published in the Society's journal in 1999; "The `Other' Re-engineering of Engineering Education, 1900-1965," Journal of Engineering Education 88 (July 1999): 285-94. Presented June 2000.
  • Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Michigan Technological University Chapter, 1998.
  • Fellow, Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, MIT, Spring, 1996.
  • Copper Scroll Award, Michigan Technological University Chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honorary, for service to the chapter and the university, 1990.
  • Abel Wolman Award, Public Works Historical Society and American Public Works Association, for the book making the outstanding contribution to the field of public works history published in 1987: Building the American Highway System: Engineers as Policy Makers. Presented September 1988.
  • Abbott Payson Usher Prize, Society for the History of Technology, for the best publication by the society, 1984-1986: "The Scientific Mystique in Engineering: Highway Research in the Bureau of Public Roads, 1918-1940," Technology and Culture 25 (October 1984): 798-831. Presented October 1987.
  • Railroad History Award of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society for the best article on the interpretation of the history of railroads in North America , 1985 - 1986: "Railroads, Good Roads, and Technological Change," Railway History Bulletin No. 155 (Autumn 1986). Presented June 1987.
  • Norton Prize, Society for Industrial Archaeology, for the best article in the society's journal, 1981-1983: "Blast Furnace Technology in the Nineteenth Century; A Case Study," IA 7 (1981): 27-54. Presented June 1984.

In the Community

Public Addresses

  • "Inventing the American Road: Technical Innovations Shaping the Freeway," invited lecture in the Series: The Freeway in America, Sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance and the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston, Houston, TX, October 13, 2000.
  • "Walt Disney and American Technology," invited campus lecture, Southern Polytechnic University, Marietta, GA, October 16, 1996.
  • Moderator of Panel Session on History of Technology and Policy for Congressional Staff, sponsored by National Humanities Alliance, May 1996.

Television and Documentary Films

  • Consultant, Diner Media, Concept development and script review for documentary production on the Alaska Highway, September-December, 2003.
  • Consultant and on-air expert for A&E Television/Jupiter Films, “U.S. 1: Avenue of America,” (videotaped October 18-19, 2001 ), 2003.
  • Consultant and on-air expert for ABC News Productions, Travel Channel documentary, “Super Road Interstate 95,” (videotaped October 10, 2001 ; aired Fall 2002).
  • Consultant, Florentine Films/Hott Productions, for preparation and production of “Divided Highways,” 1996-97.

Museum Consulting

  • Exhibit Script Consultant: "On Track: Transit and the American City," National Building Museum, Washington, DC, September 2001.
  • Consultant on Transportation History, Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI, April 2000.
  • Consultant in the History of Technology for the Adirondack Museum , NEH Planning Grant for Exhibit, "Mining in the Adirondacks," 1980.

Consulting Activities

  • Consultant to Leichtenstein Consulting Engineers. Member of team evaluating the historical significance of bridges on the Ohio highway system, built 1950-1960. Phases 1 and 2, September 2002-December 2003.
  • Consultant to Louis Berger Associates. Participated in Symposium on Historic Context for the Interstate Highway System and presented “Preliminary Thoughts On The Interstate As Historic Resource,” Federal Highway Administration, February 12-13, 2003, Washington , DC .
  • Consultant in the development of a journal devoted to social science/humanistic study of technology transfer, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, September 2001- January 2003.
  • Project Associate for policy analysis for the Interstate Highway Research Project directed by the Public Works Historical Society and sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to study impact of the Interstate program on the states. March 1987 - May 1988. End product -- The States and the Interstates: Research on the Planning, Design, and Construction of the Interstate and Defense Highway System (Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 1991).
  • Invited participant at seminar on "Building Consensus: Historical Perspectives from the Interstate Highway Experience," sponsored by the Public Works Historical Society and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., November 22-23, 1987.

Books | Current Projects | Funded Projects