Theme: History of Science
Paul Farber Oral History Interviews
Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
October 2014
Paul Farber (b. 1944) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the History of Science
who worked at OSU from 1970 to his retirement in 2008. During his tenure as a member
of the OSU faculty, Farber served as chair of the General Science department and,
after the department's dissolution, the History department as well. A scholar of
the naturalist tradition and evolutionary ethics, Farber has published on a variety
of subjects, including the history of ornithology and changes in American views on
race mixing. His interviews focus on his evolution as a historian, the means by which
he acquired his scholarly toolkit, and his memories of General Science and History
over four decades working at OSU.
Mary Jo Nye Oral History Interviews
Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
March 2015
Mary Jo Nye (b. 1944) is a historian of science who was a member of the OSU History
faculty from 1994 to her retirement in 2008. Nye and her husband Robert, also a historian,
served as the first Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Professors of the Humanities,
and in this capacity were charged with deepening the link between the sciences and
the humanities at OSU. A prolific and accomplished scholar of 19th and 20th century
history of science in Europe and the U.S., Mary Jo Nye received the Sarton Medal,
the highest award granted by the History of Science Society, in 2006. Over two interviews,
Nye traces the evolution of her academic interests in science and the history of science,
discusses her work on several books, and reflects on her fourteen years as Horning
chair at OSU.
Kevin Stoller Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
September 28, 2015
Kevin Stoller (b. 1976) earned two degrees from OSU, completing a double-major bachelor's
degree in Mathematics and History in 1999, and a master's degree in the History of
Science in 2002. Formerly the forum page editor for The Daily Barometer, Stoller was also a member of the first cohort of the University Honors College (UHC),
which began enrolling students in 1995, Stoller's sophomore year. After a period
of study at Harvard University, Stoller returned to Corvallis in 2009 where he is
now Director of External Relations and Operations for the UHC. His interview focuses
on OSU's campus culture during the mid- and late-1990s; the early years of the UHC;
and the many ways in which the college and university have changed in recent decades.