Roy MacLeod

Professor Roy MacLeod is Emeritus Professor of History in the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney, where he held the position of Professor of Modern History from 1982 to 2003. He earned an AB summa cum laude in History and Science from Harvard University and PhD and LittD degrees from Cambridge University, along with honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bologna and Sussex. His distinguished career includes serving as the first Junior Research Fellow in History at Churchill College, Cambridge; a founding Fellow of the Science Policy Research Unit and foundation Reader in History and Social Studies of Science at the University of Sussex; the inaugural Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University of London; and numerous prestigious fellowships such as the Braudel Fellowship at the European University Institute, Sarton Chair at Ghent University, Fowler Hamilton Fellowship at Christ Church Oxford, and Keeley Fellowship at Wadham College Oxford. At Sydney, he contributed to establishing the Centre for the Human Aspects of Science and Technology, the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, the Research Institute on Asia and the Pacific, and the Centre for International Security Studies.

MacLeod specializes in the cultural history of science and technology, with research interests encompassing science in imperial and colonial contexts, science and war, science policy, and international scientific collaboration. He founded the Pacific Circle consortium in 1985 as a scientific commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and served as editor-in-chief of Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy from 2000 to 2008. Notable publications include Archibald Liversidge, FRS: Imperial Science under the Southern Cross (2009); Frontline and Factory: Comparative Perspectives on the Chemical Industry at War, 1914-1924 (2006, editor); Nature and Empire: Science and the Colonial Enterprise (2000, Osiris volume editor); Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific (1994, co-editor); Disease, Medicine and Empire (1988, co-editor); and The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988 (1988, editor). His influence is evident in over 20 authored or edited books, more than 140 scholarly articles, and foundational roles in science studies networks and journals. Awards include the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020 for service to education particularly in history, Fellowship of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA), Fellowship of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), the Humboldt Prize (2001), the Sarton Medal (2015), and the History of Philosophy and Science Medal from the Royal Society of New South Wales (2017).

Professional Email: roy.macleod@sydney.edu.au