Buhm Soon Park is Associate Historian at the Office of NIH History. He was previously a DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Memorial Fellow for five years, working on the history of NIH laboratories in biochemistry and molecular biology. He received his Ph.D. in the history of science from the Johns Hopkins University in 1999. Dr. Park's main research interest is in the history of the biomedical sciences in the twentieth century. He is currently writing a book on the history of the NIH after World War II, focusing on the development of research programs and policies. He also has several publications in the history of quantum chemistry, the subject he explored for his doctoral thesis.

Curriculum Vitae

Last edited: October 2005

Education

Ph.D., History of Science, The Johns Hopkins University, 1999

M.A., History of Science, Seoul National University, 1991

B.S., Chemistry, Seoul National University, 1987

Selected Work Experience

2004-present: ASSOCIATE HISTORIAN, Office of NIH History, Bethesda, MD

1999-2004: FELLOW, DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Memorial Fellowship in the History of Biomedical Sciences and Technology at the NIH, Bethesda, MD

Selected Publications

“In the ‘Context of Pedagogy': Teaching Strategy and Theory Change in Quantum Chemistry,” in Pedagogy and the Practice of Science: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, edited by David Kaiser (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2005), pp. 287-319.

“The Development of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Health after World War II,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46 (2003), pp. 383-402.

“The ‘Hyperbola of Quantum Chemistry': The Changing Practice and Identity of a Scientific Discipline in the Early Years of Electronic Digital Computers, 1945-1965,” Annals of Science 60 (2003), pp. 219-247.

“A Principle Written in Diagrams: The Aufbau Principle for Molecules and Its Visual Representations,” in Tools and Modes of Representation in the Laboratory Sciences, edited by Ursula Klein (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001), pp. 179-198.

“The Contexts of Simultaneous Discovery: Slater, Pauling, and the Origins of Hybridization,” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 31 (2000), pp. 451-474.

“Chemical Translators: Pauling, Wheland, and Their Strategies for Teaching the Theory of Resonance,” British Journal for the History of Science 32 (1999), pp. 21-46.

Projects at the NIH

BOOK (in progress): Biomedicine in the Federal Government: A History of Research Policies and Activities at the National Institutes of Health, 1937-1987.

EXHIBIT: “The Stadtman Way: A Tale of Two Biochemists at NIH,” (opened on January 22, 2004 at the NIH Clinical Center on the web: http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/stadtman).

DOCUMENTARY FILM: “Building 3 in Historical Perspective: Scientists and Their Laboratories,” (premiered on May 1, 2002 at the NIH, held in the collections of the Office of NIH History).