Remembering Michael S. Mahoney
Princeton University historian of science and devoted faculty member
Hugh F (Tony) Cline, Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Posted on September 22, 2008 by Tony Cline
Since 1997 Mike Mahoney, and I had lunch every other Friday. At our first meeting we recognized our extensively overlapping scholarly interests, and all our subsequent discussions were exemplars of effective intellectual exchange and collaboration. Mike's expertise in, as he liked to call it, the histories of computing made invaluable contributions to my own scholarly work examining social change as induced by information and communication technologies. Over the years, I sat in on many of Mike's courses and seminars, and he was a regular visitor in my seminars. Mike helped me to understand and apply the perspectives of a social historian in my research; and he frequently commented, often complained, about the infiltration of my sociological perspectives in his work. It was truly a mutually productive and rewarding dialogue that took place over a decade. I will always be indebted to him for enriching my sociological perspectives.
In addition to our scholarly work, Mike and I shared a great many common interests, including the joys of grand parenting, the rewards of teaching, the thrills of outdoor bicycling, the love of Italian cuisine, and the challenges confronting us both as we made the transition to old curmudgeons. We discussed politics on a national and international scale, as well as the more intense local politics of academia. We shared a disdain for the corporatization of higher education. We disagreed strongly on many issues, but our discourse was always civil, and we always learned from one another.
Mike's death has left a huge vacuum in all our personal and intellectual lives, especially his family and colleagues. From now on, Fridays at noon are a lonely time for me.
As Shakespeare said of Brutus, "The elements were so well mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world that this was a man."
Hugh F (Tony) Cline
Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
Tags: Columbia University, professor, sociology
← Theodore Arabatzis, graduate student 1988-1995, currently Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, University of Athens, Greece William Aspray, graduate student 1975-76, currently Bill and Lewis Suit Professor of Information Technologies, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin →
Eloge for Michael S. Mahoney
Conference to Honor Historical Career of Michael Sean Mahoney
Memorial Resolution
Angela Creager, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Program in History of Science, Princeton University
David Hochman, undergraduate student, class of 1978
Sandy Thatcher, close friend, currently Director of the Penn State Press
Robert Segal, University of Aberdeen
Stan Katz, Professor of Public and International Affairs and Director of Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Kevin Weddle, graduate student 1999-2002, currently Professor of Military Theory and Strategy, US Army War College
David Aubin, graduate student, 1993-1997, currently Asscociate Professor in the History of the Mathematical Sciences at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris
Chikara Sasaki, graduate student 1976-80, currently Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo