Andreas W. Daum is a German-American
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
who specializes in modern German and transatlantic history, as well as the history of knowledge and global exploration.
Daum received his Ph.D. summa cum laude in 1995 from the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, where he taught for six years as an assistant professor. In 1996, he joined the
German Historical Institute Washington DC as a research fellow. From 2001 to 2002, Daum was a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at the Center for European Studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. Since 2003, he has been a professor of European history at the
State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He also served as an associate dean for undergraduate education in the provost's office. In 2010–11, he was a visiting scholar at the BMW Center for German and European Studies at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
.
He is best known as a biographer of
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
and for his studies on popular science, emigrants from Nazi Germany, and the United States’ special relationship with "America’s Berlin". His book ''Kennedy in Berlin'' highlights the role of emotions in the Cold War and provides a comprehensive explanation of John F. Kennedy's 1963 "
Ich bin ein Berliner" speech.
In 2019, he was awarded the
Humboldt Prize, a lifetime achievement award by the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for international scientists and scholars. In 2024, he received the Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring. In 2025, Daum was recognized with the Senior Award for Excellence in International Exchange by the DAAD (
German Academic Exchange Service
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee.
Organisa ...
) Alumni Association.
Daum has received fellowships and grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
,
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
,
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, Gerda Henkel Foundation,
DAAD, and the
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes.
Books
* ''Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert: Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, 1848‒1914'', Munich: Oldenbourg (1998; 2nd edition 2002), a study on science popularization in the 19th century
* ''Kennedy in Berlin'', New York: Cambridge University Press (2007, German edition 2003)
* ''Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography''. Trans. Robert Savage, Princeton: Princeton University Press (2024); in German: ''Alexander von Humboldt'', Munich: C. H. Beck (2019, 2nd edition 2024)
Edited Volumes
* ''America, the Vietnam War and the World: Comparative and International Perspectives'', with
Lloyd C. Gardner and Wilfried Mausbach, New York: Cambridge University Press (2003)
* ''Berlin ‒ Washington, 1800‒2000: Capital Cities, Cultural Representations, and National Identities'', with Christof Mauch, New York: Cambridge University Press (2005, paperback 2011)
* ''The Second Generation: Émigrés from Nazi Germany as Historians. With a Biobibliographic Guide'', with Hartmut Lehmann and
James J. Sheehan, New York: Berghahn Books (2016, paperback 2018)
External links
Faculty member Department of History, University at Buffalo
John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowat the Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Visiting Scholar at the BMW Center for German and European Studies Georgetown University
Recipient of the Baird Society Resident Scholarshipfrom the Smithsonian Institution
* Interview with Andreas Daum (2019)
"The sensual Humboldt is yet to be discovered" Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
* Andreas W. Daum
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, no. 143, June 24, 2013
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daum, Andreas
Living people
Historians of Germany
Historians of Europe
Historians of science
20th-century German historians
21st-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
University at Buffalo faculty
German emigrants to the United States
German male non-fiction writers
Alexander von Humboldt
John F. Kennedy
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American male writers