Smith, Jason Scott 1970-

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Smith, Jason Scott 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born October 31, 1970. Education: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.A., 1993; University of California, Berkeley, M.A., 1995, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, University of New Mexico, MSC06 3760, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1181. E-mail—jssmith@unm.edu.

CAREER:

Academic and historian. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Harvard-Newcomen postdoctoral fellow in business history, 2001-02, Graduate School of Business Administration lecturer, 2002-04; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Mellon postdoctoral fellow in American Studies, visiting assistant professor, 2004-06; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, assistant professor of history, 2006—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Abel Wolman Award, Public Works Historical Society and the American Public Works Association, 2007, for best book in public works history, for Building New Deal Liberalism.

WRITINGS:

Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals and academic journals, including Journal of Social History, Business History Review, International Labor and Working-Class History, Reviews in American History, American Historical Review, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, USA Today, and Pacific Historical Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jason Scott Smith is an academic and historian. Born on October 31, 1970, he began his higher education studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, completing a bachelor of arts degree in 1993. He then pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a master of arts degree in 1995 and a Ph.D. in 2001.

Smith subsequently served as a Harvard-Newcomen postdoctoral fellow in business history at Harvard University for one academic year. From 2002 to 2004 he worked as a lecturer at Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration. At that point Smith began serving as a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in American Studies as well as a visiting assistant professor. In 2006 he began working as an assistant professor of history at Albuquerque's University of New Mexico. Smith's research interests encompass political history and political economy, particularly the histories of capitalism, business, labor, and the state. Among these topics, Smith has contributed to a number of periodicals and academic journals, including the Journal of Social History, Business History Review, International Labor and Working-Class History, Reviews in American History, American Historical Review, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, USA Today, and the Pacific Historical Review.

Smith published his first book, Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956, in 2006. The book won the 2007 Abel Wolman Award from the Public Works Historical Society and the American Public Works Association for being the best book on public works history. The book discusses the public works program set up by the New Deal and how it revolutionized the way the federal government affected the economy and set up the foundation for the post-World War II economy of the United States. Smith covers all aspects of public works projects, from airports and bridges to hydroelectric plants and reclamation projects.

Gary Mucciaroni, writing in the Political Science Quarterly, commented that "judged against the broad goals of many New Dealers—to build a stronger economy, state, and regime and transform the physical landscape—their performance was impressive. For illuminating this record of accomplishment, Building New Deal Liberalism should be read by New Deal historians and political scientists interested in the intersection of U.S. politics and policy and the economy of the twentieth century." A. Scott Henderson, reviewing the book in History: Review of New Books, recorded that "the only flaw in this otherwise compelling study is Smith's assertions that his findings will transform our understanding of New Deal liberalism. While important, his interpretation does not supercede, but instead amplifies the existing literature" on policy formation and statebuilding.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, June 1, 2007, Kenneth J. Heineman, review of Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956, p. 880.

American Studies, fall, 2005, Peter Fearon, review of Building New Deal Liberalism.

Business History Review, summer, 2006, Ellis W. Hawley, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 341.

History: Review of New Books, summer, 2006, A. Scott Henderson, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 118.

Journal of American History, September 1, 2007, Robert F. Himmelberg, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 616.

Journal of Economic History, December 1, 2006, Robert K. Fleck, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 1097.

Pacific Historical Review, November 1, 2007, Otis L. Graham, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 663.

Political Science Quarterly, spring, 2007, Gary Mucciaroni, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 173.

Reviews in American History, March 1, 2007, Gregory Summers, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 105.

Technology and Culture, July 1, 2007, Jessica Wang, review of Building New Deal Liberalism, p. 659.