James R. Hansen
Dr. James R. Hansen specializes in the history of science
and technology and the impact of science and technology on
society. He has published eight books and over two dozen
articles and book chapters, plus numerous book reviews, on
a wide variety of technological topics ranging from the
early days of aviation to the first nuclear fusion reactors
to the Moon landings to the environmental history of golf
course development. His published books include: The Wind
and Beyond: A Documentary Journey through the History of
Aerodynamics in America (six volumes), the first volume of
which appeared in 2003; The Bird is on the Wing:
Aerodynamics and the Progress of the Airplane in America
(Texas A&M University Press Centennial of Flight Series,
2003); Spaceflight Revolution (Washington: NASA SP-4308),
which NASA nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; Engineer in
Charge (Washington: NASA SP-4305); and From the Ground Up
(Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988), co-
authored by American aviation pioneer Fred E. Weick. From
the Ground Up won the Eugene Emme Prize in Astronautical
Literature from the American Astronautical Society, and the
latter received the History Book Award of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Hansen's
articles have appeared in a number of national and
international journals and magazines, including Air & Space
Smithsonian, The Journal of the British Interplanetary
Society, Technology and Culture, American Heritage of
Invention and Technology, and The National Forum. Hansen's new book, First Man: The Life of Neil A.
Armstrong, is being published by Simon & Schuster. It will
appear in bookstores nationwide on October 18, 2005.
Already arrangements have been made for this biography to
be published in China, Japan, Croatia, and the United
Kingdom, with many additional countries to come. Dr. Hansen is Professor of History in the Department of
History at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. From 1992
to 1996 he served as chairman of the history department and
was the first elected �chair� in the history of Auburn
University. At Auburn, he teaches courses on the history of
flight, history of science, space history, history of
technological failure, as well as a large auditorium class
that surveys the history of technology from ancient times
to the present -- or, as he puts it, �from before
Australopithecus to after Arthur Clarke.� In 1998 Auburn
University named him winner of its inaugural Creative
Research Award. In 2000 the College of Liberal Arts at
Auburn presented him with its award as Outstanding Teacher
in the Core Curriculum. Hansen earned a B.A. degree, with High Honors from Indiana
University (1974) and an M.A. (1976) and Ph.D. (1981) from
The Ohio State University. He served as historian for NASA
Langley Research in Hampton, Virginia, from 1981 to 1984,
and as a professor at the University of Maine in 1984-85.
He has taught in the Auburn University history department
since 1986. Professor Hansen has received a number of citations for his
historical scholarship, including the Robert H. Goddard
Award from the National Space Club and distinctions of
excellence from the Air Force Historical Foundation. In
1986-87 he gave historical talks around the country as an
AIAA Distinguished Lecturer. He has served on a number of
important advisory boards and panels, including the
Research Advisory Board of the National Air and Space
Museum, the Editorial Advisory Board of the Smithsonian
Institution Press, the Advisory Board for the Archives of
Aerospace Exploration at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, the Museum Advisory Board of the U.S.
Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the
board of directors of the Space Restoration Society. He is
a past vice-president of the board of directors of the
Virginia Air and Space Museum and Hampton Roads History
Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jim has also been working on a history of American golf
course development and in the past eight years has become a
recognized expert on the history of golf course development
and the environmental impact of golf courses. He has
presented lectures on the subjects at international
meetings in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the
United States. An avid golfer with a five handicap, Hansen
has been a contributor to Golfweek magazine and its
subsidiary publication, Superintendent News. He also serves
on Golfweek's Top 100 course ratings panel and is a member
of the World Scientific Congress of Golf based at the
University of St. Andrews. He has been married for 28 years to Peggy Miller-Hansen, a
nurse at the Auburn University Student Health Center. Both
are natives of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and graduates of
Elmhurst High School. Together, they have two children,
Nathaniel, a 2001 graduate of Duke University who is
currently in medical school at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham, and Jennifer, a recent graduate of Vanderbilt
University who is studying art history at New York
University.
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Series
Books:First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, October 2005
Hardcover
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