Michael J. Neufeld is a historian and author. He chaired the Space History Division at the Smithsonian’s

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

from 2007 to 2011, and continues to be a curator there.

Biography

Neufeld was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, in 1951. He received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and an M.A. from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1976 with a thesis entitled "He who will not work, neither shall he eat: German social democratic attitudes to labor, 1890-1914".WorldCat
/ref> He received his Ph.D. from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 1984 with a dissertation on "From artisans to workers: the transformation of the skilled metalworkers of Nuremberg, 1835-1905".WorldCat
/ref> Since the 1990s, Neufeld has written several works about

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

. His work has been criticized as non-scientific.

Books

Books written

*''The Skilled Metalworkers of Nuremberg: Craft and Class in the Industrial Revolution''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1989. *''The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era''. New York: Free Press, 1995. The book won the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

's History Manuscript Award, and the

Society for the History of Technology The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) is the primary professional society for historians of technology. SHOT was founded in 1958 in the United States, and it has since become an international society with members "from some thirty-five ...

's Dexter Prize. **Translated into German by Jens Wagner as ''Die Rakete und das Reich: Wernher von Braun, Peenemünde und der Beginn des Raketenzeitalters''. **Review by Kees Gispen, ''

Central European History ''Central European History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal on history published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Central European History Society, an affiliate of the American Historical Association. It covers all as ...

.'' 31, no. 4, (1998): 474. *''Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 2007. The book won the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

's Leopold Prize, and the

American Astronautical Society Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and space exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration ...

's Eugene M. Emme Award for Astronautical Literature.Official biography at the Smithsonian
**Translated into German as ''

: Visionär des Weltraums, Ingenieur des Krieges''. **Translated into Danish as ''Wernher von Braun: krigsingeniør og rumfartsvisionær''. **Translated into Polish as ''Von Braun: nżynier nazistów i Amerykanów'.

Books edited

*with Yves Béon. (eds.) ''Planet Dora: a memoir of the Holocaust and the birth of the space age.'' Boulder, Colorado: WestviewPress, 1997. *with

Michael Berenbaum Michael Berenbaum (born July 31, 1945, in Newark, New Jersey) is an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of the Holocaust. He served as deputy director of the President's Commission on the Holo ...

. (eds.) ''The Bombing of Auschwitz: Should the Allies Have Attempted It?'' New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. **Review by Edward L. Homze. ''

The Journal of Military History ''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the ed ...

.'' 65, no. 3, (2001): 846. **Review by Willard Allen Fletcher. ''

Holocaust and Genocide Studies The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...

.'' 15, no. 3, (2001): 503. *with Alex M. Spencer. (eds.) ''Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography.'' Washington, D.C:

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, 2010. *''Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight.'' Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2013. *''Milestones of Space: Eleven Iconic Objects from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.'' Minneapolis, Minnesota: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in association with Zenith Press, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neufeld, Michael J. 1951 births 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Writers from Edmonton University of Calgary alumni University of British Columbia alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Smithsonian Institution people Living people Canadian Mennonites Mennonite writers 21st-century Canadian historians