HISTORY OF SCIENCE SOCIETY INC
Sharing the stories of science
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Rampant misunderstanding regarding the nature of science.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Isis
Established in 1912, Isis is considered the flagship journal in the history of science. Articles are selected in a highly competitive process after having been thoroughly reviewed by outside readers.
Annual Meeting
The Society hosts an annual meeting in the last quarter of the calendar year in which we showcase the latest research in the history of science, recognize outstanding scholarship, bring together multiple committees, and provide an environment that fosters intellectual exchange.
Osiris
Annual serial that examines history of science in a broader context, making the field more accessible to historians in general.
Prizes and Awards
Honors the best scholarship in the history of science. Multiple prize committees examine a broad range of publications and choose those that exemplify the highest standards. Awards are given to books aimed at an academic audience, at a general audience, best graduate student essay, best work in the history of women in science, best work in natural history, excellence in teaching, and various lectureships.
Current Bibliography
The Society's Bibliographer, who is an associate editor and who is assisted by several graduate students, examines thousands of publications each year and selects those that deal with the history of science, including articles, books, dissertations, etc.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The HSS has established 6 strategic goals:
Goal 1—MEETINGS/NETWORKING: Create vibrant regular HSS meetings and facilitate networking through other associations and venues.
Goal 2—PUBLICATIONS/STANDARDS: Foster a publishing environment that promotes top-quality history of science scholarship in diverse media for diverse audiences.
Goal 3—PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Support professional development of emerging history of science scholars in and outside the academy.
Goal 4—BROADENING OUR REACH: Promote general interest in history of science among educators at all levels and the public, in part by providing opportunities to scholars to expand their audiences and make their work more effective and relevant.
Goal 5—ADVOCACY: Promote history of science in the United States by advocating on behalf of the field and its practitioners to the public, to government officials, to universities, and to potential employers of historians of science; and support advocacy of history of science in other countries.
Goal 6—MEMBERSHIP/GOVERNANCE: Produce a sustainable governance and financial system for HSS that will promote a welcoming, culturally and internationally diverse and interdisciplinary organizational culture.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Each goal has identified objectives that include action steps. An example from each goal appears below:
Objective 1.1: Host conferences that generate excitement.
Step A. Improve experience of meeting for attendees by, for example, limiting number of concurrent sessions.
Objective 2.1: Maintain the outstanding quality of our print publications, while making HSS more welcoming of innovative research methods and modes of publication, from informal blogging to major online research projects.
Step A. Provide members with an HSS-authorized statement about the value of digital work and publication, with some guidelines for defining and evaluating it.
Objective 3.1: SKILLS: Encourage historians of science to develop skills to succeed in a range of professions outside and inside the academy (tenure track and non-tenure track).
Step A. Conduct regular workshops for graduate students on professional development, funding opportunities, and academic applications.
Objective 4.1: Reconfigure the Governance/Employee Structures of the HSS to include accountability for 'broadening our reach.'
Step A. Increase engagement efforts among EO staff, making a new hire and redistributing tasks within the office.
Objective 5.1: Promote greater public recognition of History of Science
Step A. Expand EO commitment to media and engagement. See Step 4.1.A.
Objective 6.1: Know our members.
Step A. Revise Society organization to put in place a committee on membership. This may be a reworked Committee on Research and the Profession.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Each action step has resources (extant and desired) connected to it. These include various committees, personnel in the Executive and Editorial offices, new hires, caucuses, and interest groups.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have established committees for Technology and Communications, for Advocacy, for Membership, and, most importantly, Diversity and Inclusion. We have also added three endowed prize funds in the past several years to promote excellence in scholarship. We revised all of our bylaws and statutes in accordance with the strategic plan, have created both a policy manual and a procedures manual, and are laying the groundwork for a financial campaign.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
HISTORY OF SCIENCE SOCIETY INC
Board of directorsas of 04/21/2023
Dr. Jan Golinski
Dr. Karen Rader
Bernard Lightman
York University
Robert J Malone
HSS
Jan Golinski
Univ of New Hampshire
Karen Rader
Virginia Commonwealth Univ
Gwen Kay
NYU Oswego
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data