Melinda Gormley, Ph.D. specializes in the history of life sciences in twentieth-century America and interactions of science with society and politics. She is writing a biography of geneticist L.C Dunn (1893-1974) that explores scientific integrity, science policy, and the scientist citizen. To do this, she will provide a rich narrative about Dunn’s personal and professional lives highlighting his activism in support of human equality, democracy, and intellectual freedom.
She is also developing an academic article on popularizations of science produced by scientists during the 1940s and 1950s that aims to elucidate the context that made it desirable for scientists to educate the public on scientific topics. As a graduate student at Oregon State University, she surveyed the work of chemist Linus Pauling (1901-1994) on hemoglobin and sickle cell anemia and developed the narrative for a website produced by OSU’s Special Collections. Melinda is co-chair of the Graduate and Early Career Caucus of the History of Science Society.
She has been employed as the Assistant Director for Research at the Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values at University of Notre Dame since August 2011. Her duties include facilitating conversations and research on the ethical, legal, social, and policy implications of scientific and technical research as well as pursuing her own research agenda.