Ruth Oldenziel (born 1958) is a Dutch historian of technology whose research interests include gender issues in technology, the technology exchange between the US and Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the history of cycling. She is professor in the history of technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology, and editor-in-chief of Technology and Culture.
Education and career Oldenziel was born in Amsterdam in 1958. After her undergraduate studies, Oldenziel earned a graduate diploma in American studies from Smith College in 1982, a master's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Ph.D. in 1992 from Yale University.
She was an associate professor at the University of Amsterdam before taking her present position in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
In 2019 she was named as the editor-in-chief of Technology and Culture, succeeding Suzanne Moon in that position.
Books Oldenziel is the author of: Making Technology Masculine: Men, Women and Modern Machines in America, 1870–1945 (Amsterdam University Press, 1999) Consumers, Tinkerers, Rebels: The People Who Shaped Europe (with , Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) Engineering the Future, Understanding the Past: A Social History of Technology (with Erik van der Vleuten and Mila Davids, Amsterdam University Press, 2017)
Her edited volumes include: Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges: Comparing the History of Women Engineers 1870s – 1990s (edited with Annie Canel and , Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000) Gender and Technology: A Reader (edited with Nina E. Lerman and Arwen P. Mohun, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003) Cold War Kitchen: Americanization, Technology, and European Users (edited with , MIT Press, 2009) Manufacturing Technology, Manufacturing Consumers: The Making of Dutch Consumer Society (edited with Adri Albert de la Bruhèze, Aksant, 2009) Hacking Europe: From Computer Cultures to Demoscenes (edited with Gerard Alberts, Springer, 2014) Cycling and Recycling: Histories of Sustainable Practices (edited with , Berghahn Books, 2016) Cycling Cities: The European Experience : Hundred Years of Policy and Practice (edited with Martin Emanuel, Adri Albert de la Bruhèze, and Frank Veraart, Foundation for the History of Technology and Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, 2016) A U-Turn to the Future: Sustainable Urban Mobility since 1850 (edited with Martin Emanuel and Frank Schipper, Berghahn Books, 2020)
Recognition Oldenziel was the 2002 recipient of the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize of the History of Science Society, for “Multiple-Entry Visas: Gender and Engineering in the U.S., 1870-1945,” in Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges: Comparing the History of Women Engineers, 1870s-1990s, ed. Annie Canel, Ruth Oldenziel, and Karin Zachmann (London: Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000).
References Review of Cycling and Recycling: Evan Friss, Environmental History, Review of Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges: Kathleen Ochs, Technology and Culture, Reviews of Cycling Cities: Anne-Katrin Ebert, The Journal of Transport History, Sébastien Marrec, "Une analyse comparée de l’évolution de la place du vélo dans les villes européennes", L'Espace géographique, Harry Oosterhuis, Bijdragen en Mededelingen Betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Hendrik Vos, TSEG – The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, Reviews of Consumers, Tinkerers, Rebels: , The Journal of Modern History, Kjetil Fallan, Journal of Design History, Dario Gaggio, Technology and Culture, Coreen McGuire, The British Journal for the History of Science, , Reviews of Cold War Kitchen: , Enterprise & Society, , Olaf Bach, Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte / Journal of Business History, Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Journal of Design History, Ai Hisano, Journal of Cold War Studies, , , Technology and Culture, Claire Leymonerie, The Business History Review, , Małgorzata Mazurek, Women's History Review, Kathryn Nathenson, Icon, Emanuela Scarpellini, Journal of Global History, Eric Schatzberg, Isis, , , The English Historical Review, , Review of Gender and Technology: Joan Rothschild, Technology and Culture, Reviews of Hacking Europe: Gleb J. Albert, European History Quarterly, Petri Paju, Technology and Culture, Ksenia Tatarchenko, Isis, Reviews of Making Technology Masculine:
Jo Ann E. Argersinger, The American Historical Review, , Marilyn E. Hegarty, Journal of Women's History, Ronald Kline, Isis, , Ellen van Oost, Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, Joan Prince, American Studies International, Joan Rothschild, Icon, Judy Wajcman, Technology and Culture, Review of Manufacturing Technology, Manufacturing Consumers: Ilja Van Damme, TSEG – The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, Review of A U-Turn to the Future: , Technology and Culture,