Professor David Kaiser Receives the Joseph H. Hazen Education Award from the History of Science Society

Professor David Kaiser has been awarded the 2026 Joseph H. Hazen Education Award by the History of Science Society.  The Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize recognizes outstanding teaching in the history of science. The award seeks to honor those whose work promotes interest in and educates the public about the history of science by celebrating efforts to enhance the integration of the history of science into grades K-12 and community college classrooms as well as four-year institutions; by developing new tools and opportunities for members to connect with broader audiences; and by devising strategies for making work done by historians of science more available and accessible, particularly for underrepresented communities.

The selection committee writes that “Professor Kaiser has a remarkably consistent pattern of high-quality education work. First, his decorated teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was made available to wider audiences in 2023, with an openaccess course called “Physics in the 20th Century.” The lecture videos have been viewed on YouTube more than 300,000 times, reaching an audience far beyond a typical university classroom. Second, Professor Kaiser has engaged in public-facing writing and publishing, with short essays published in illustrious venues such as the New York Times, Nature, and the London Review of Books.”

They also highlighted his work on documentaries about the history of physics, which has helped shape TV programs that have garnered millions of views. His participation in the MIT SERC Case Studies Series on Social and Ethical Responsibility in Computing also resulted in new materials reaching hundreds of thousands of readers, many of whom are outside of the United States. They concluded that “in sum, on top of being one of the finest academic colleagues today, Kaiser has established himself as a major public voice and novel educator drawing upon the best of the history of science and bringing it to diverse publics.”

Professor Kaiser accepted the award on July 14th in Edinburgh at the annual meeting of the History of Science Society, stating, “I am deeply honored to receive the HSS Hazen Education Prize. Like many members of our community, I have found it to be a fascinating challenge — and also deeply rewarding — to work on ways to share insights from our research with people beyond our immediate circle.”