American Philosophical Society
Member History

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1Name:  Dr. Thomas P. Hughes
 Institution:  University of Pennsylvania; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Year Elected:  2003
 Class:  3. Social Sciences
 Subdivision:  303. History Since 1715
 Residency:  Resident
 Living? :   Deceased
 Birth Date:  1923
 Death Date:  February 3, 2014
   
 
Thomas Hughes received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1953. He served on the faculty of Washington and Lee University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Johns Hopkins University, and Southern Methodist University before joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1973 where he became Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of History and Sociology of Science. He had also been Distinguished Visiting Professor of the History of Technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thomas Hughes was considered the dean of American historians of technology. His versatility and style appear in Elmer Sperry, Inventor and Engineer (1971), a definitive biography that incorporates the technical detail required for the life of an engineer; Networks of Power, Electification of Western Society, 1880-1930 (1983), a comparative history of German and American electric power systems conceived as integrations of technical, managerial and financial networks; and American Genesis, A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970 (1989, 1990), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, a portrayal of the heroic century of American invention for a wide readership. Dr. Hughes' work on systems and his book on cultural history show the same breadth and mastery. He served his profession and the public as a teacher, as a member of several national committees, and as a creator of television documentaries. Dr. Hughes' other books include (with A. Hughes) Lewis Memford: Public Intellectual (1990); Rescuing Prometheus (Managing the Creation of Large Technological Systems) (1997); (with A. Hughes) Systems, Experts, and Computers (2000); and Human-Built World: How to Think about Technology and Culture (2004). He was the recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Medal (1984), the John Desmond Bernal Prize from the Society for Social Studies of Science (1990), and a two-time recepient of the Dexter Prize of Society for the History of Technology (for Elmer Sperry and Networks of Power). He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and held honorary degrees from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and from Northwestern University. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2003. Thomas Hughes died February 3, 2014, at the age of 90, in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
Election Year
2003 (1)