Matthew S. Wiseman, PhD (he/him) is a Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo.
Wiseman's research focuses on the history of science, technology, and medical research ethics in twentieth-century North America. With an eye to understanding the social dynamics of science, his published work examines the complex political and moral dimensions of state-sponsored research conducted at government, private, and academic institutions. In this light, he is currently studying the history of Canada’s National Research Council and gender-based discrimination encountered and overcome by women scientists in physics, biology, and chemistry between 1920 and 2000.
Wiseman has published extensively on the history of science and military-sponsored research in the context of Canada and the Cold War. His books include a forthcoming monograph on the history of science in northern Canada and the Canadian Arctic between 1945 and 1975, an edited collection of government policy papers written by the late nuclear physicist and military strategist George Lindsey, and a co-edited volume on Canada’s political economy and the military-industrial complex.
Wiseman holds a Ph.D. in History from Wilfrid Laurier University and the Tri-University Graduate Program in History. Before joining the Department of History at the University of Waterloo, he held successive postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto (SSHRC), Western University (AMS), and St. Jerome’s University (Banting). In addition to his ongoing research, Wiseman is the Communications Director for the Canadian Science and Technology Historical Association and a Junior Fellow of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History in the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
