The Nicholas H. Steneck Papers contain materials on programs, projects, committees, and task forces Steneck was involved in as well as course materials. The collection reveals interests in the history of science, ethics and values in science, research integrity, and the history of the University of Michigan. The papers are arranged in four series: Programs and Projects, Committees and Task Forces, Teaching Materials and Slides.
Nicholas H. Steneck joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1970. Originally from the East Coast, he earned his B.S. at Rutgers University in 1962. He then attended the University of Wisconsin for graduate school. There he received an M.A. in history and a Ph.D. in medieval history and the history of science in 1970. Steneck's wife, Margaret Steneck, also received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Tudor-Stuart history from the University of Wisconsin. She worked as a Lecturer in history at the University of Michigan, and the two team-taught History 265, a course they developed on the history of the University Michigan.
As an historian of science, Steneck displayed both a strong humanities-based perspective and a strong interest in science and related ethical issues. In 1983 he proposed a Science-Humanities Center, to be housed in the historic Detroit Observatory, that would "coordinate activities that fall between the sciences and the humanities" (letter to Steiner, 1983). The melding of these two interests and perspectives helps explain many of the programs and projects Steneck worked on during his career. After serving as an active member and as an Associate Director, Steneck was named Director of the Collegiate Institute for Values and Science (CIVS) in 1982, a post he held until 1990, when he ended his directorship to focus on the University of Michigan Historical Center for the Health Sciences (HCHS). In 1990, Steneck created and became Director of HCHS, through which he hoped to preserve the history of the important role of the University's health sciences programs in promoting human health. He held this post until 1996 when Howard Markel took over as Director. (Markel later recast HCHS as the Center for the History of Medicine.) Steneck served for many years as LS&A Co-Director of the Integrated Premedical-Medical Program (Inteflex), which sought to provide a more solid humanities component to premedical education while transitioning Inteflex students more quickly from undergraduate into medical school. He also served during the mid-1980s on the LSA/Medical School Task Force and the LSA/Medical School Liaison Committee, helping to evaluate and adjust the Inteflex program. Beginning in 1987, he worked to organize a Michigan chapter and Michigan conferences for Science Technology and Society (STS).
As his involvement in programs like CIVS and STS indicate, Steneck had an interest in ethics and values in scientific research. This is also evident in some of the committees and task forces he either served on or chaired, including the Integrity of Scholarship Task Force (ISTF) from 1982-1984, The Academic Freedom and Academic Responsibility (AFAR) Committee from 1984-1986, the Committee on the Use and Care of Animals in 1987, the Conference on Teaching Ethics and Values (CTEV) Committee from 1987-1989, the Public Health Service Advisory Committee on Research Integrity from 1991-1993, and the Panel of Inquiry into Federally-sponsored Human Radiation Research at the U of M in the Post-WWII Era from 1994-1995.
Steneck joined the College of Engineering faculty in 1996 as Adjunct Professor of Ethics in Industrial and Operations Engineering with primary responsibility for implementing the ethics thread of Curriculum 2000. After retirement, Steneck continued as Emeritus Professor of History in LS&A and remained active on the topic of integrity in scientific research as a consultant to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and in other forums.
Steneck's publications include Science and Creation in the Middle Ages (1976), The Microwave Debate (1984), the ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research (2004), and articles on the history of research misconduct policy, animal use in research, classified research and academic freedom, faculty governance, and the role of values in university research.
