Current Fellows
The Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry at the Science History Institute is pleased to announce our 2026–2027 class of fellows.
Our incoming fellows come from institutions around the United States and the world and use our collections to study a wide range of topics in the history and social studies of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
In addition to our postdoctoral, dissertation, distinguished, and short-term research fellows, the Beckman Center will once again welcome a two-year curatorial fellow who will assist with ongoing projects as staff members, expanding and exploring interpretive programs for our library and museum.
Fellows: 1987 to Present
The Beckman Center has hosted over 350 scholars from around the world. See a list of our fellows, along with their research topics.
Curatorial Fellows
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dissertation Fellows
He Li
Cain Postdoctoral Fellow
Celestial Art: Form, Alchemy, and Nature in the Artwork, c. 1250–1475
Deirdre Moore
Price-Cain Postdoctoral Fellow
DEBUG: Narratives of Insects from Enlightenment Natural History to 20th-Century Chemical Regimes
Jessica Hogbin
Allington Dissertation Fellow
Syracuse University
Innumerable Melancholies: Medicine, Mental Health, and Human Nature in Renaissance Italy, 1450-1650
Pere Nogués-Martín
Haas Dissertation Fellow
CUNY Graduate Center
Making Brines Legible: Uncertainty, Standards, and Conflict in Bolivia’s Lithium Frontier
Cain Conference Fellows
Short-Term Fellows
Waqia Abdul-Kareem
Price Fellow
New York University
Ecological Dispossession and Black Counter-Ecologies in the South Carolina Lowcountry
Rebecca Allen
Herdegen Fellow
University of California, Riverside
Encoded Enlightenment: Alchemical Secrecy and the Rise of Print
Aida Arosaoie
Cain Fellow
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Synthetic Affliction: Climate Change, Synthetic Rubber, and Disease on the Asian Natural Rubber Belt
Aaron A. Aryee
Cain Fellow
University of Ghana
Inventing Clean Water: Reconstructing Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Responsibility Through Corporate Archives, 1930–1980
Julian Chehirian
Doan Fellow
Princeton University
The Acoustics of Care and Control: Synthetic Materials and the Material Governance of Attention in
Postwar America
Madison Clyburn
Allington Fellow
McGill University, Canada
Pleasurable Perfumes: Visualizing the Material Culture of Women’s Wellness in Early Modern Northern Italy
Océane Fontaine Cioffi
Mistry Fellow
University of Tours, France
Scents and Artisanal Practices in Early Modern Recipe Books: Books of Secrets, Marginalia, and the Circulation of Knowledge
Anna Gasha
Otlet Fellow
Columbia University
Constructing an Early History of Scientific Research on Energy Use and Existing Buildings
Adrien Gau
Doan Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
The Authenticity of Health: Plastic Surgery, Trans Identity, and American Medical Diplomacy in Cold War Taiwan
Grace Kim-Butler
Haas Fellow
Independent Scholar
Manufacturing Flow: Rheology Modifiers and Other Processing Aids in the 20th Century
Alison McManus
Seidel Fellow
Johns Hopkins University
Banned by Gaussian: How Scientists Fought for the Soul of Quantum Chemistry
Elliot Mertz
Allington Fellow
Johns Hopkins University
A New Mechanism: Organizing Principles of Living Bodies in 17th and 18th Century German Iatrochymistry at the Fredericana in Halle
Mesías Orozco Ic
Doan Fellow
Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV), Mérida Unit, Mexico
The Quantum Alchemy of Aromaticity: A Historical and Critical Journey from Intrinsic Concept to the Engineering of Molecular Fields
Kyriane Petit
Ullyot Scholar
Sciences Po Lyon, France
Chemical Workers and Researchers United Against Exposure to PFAS: Investigating the Development of an Occupational Health Survey in Lyon’s Chemical Valley
Lucas Richert
Haas Fellow
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Chain Reaction: The Rise of Big Pharmacy, Corporate Health, and American Capitalism
Gildo Santos
Presidential Fellow
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Béchamp: A Road from Chemistry to Medicine?
Emmet von Stackelberg
Doan Fellow
Harvard University
Seeing Through Silver: How Chemists and Capital Made Images Move
Jonah Walters
Cain Fellow
University of California, Los Angeles
From ‘Lord’s Breath’ to ‘Miracle Cotton’: Nitrocellulose, the Rise of Mass-Produced Explosives, and the End of Gunpowder
Alexis White
Cain Fellow
Bryn Mawr College
The Plastic Line: A History of Modern Dance According to Knit
Research Fellows
Available Opportunities
Our scholars study a range of topics in the history and social studies of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
How to Apply
Access application forms and instructions for our fellowships and library travel grants.
Fellows: 1987 to Present
See a list of fellows through the years, along with their research topics and affiliation at the time of their stay.
Application Guide
Optimize your fellowship application with this guide to candidate selection criteria and much more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions, including international visas and daily life at the Institute.
Named Fellowships
Learn about our named fellowships, their recipients, and the generous gifts that made them possible.