Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wengenroth
Academic Career and Research Areas
Ulrich Wengenroth (b. 1949) conducts research on the history of technology in the modern era. One focus of his work is the forms of technical knowledge in engineering and their transformation during the last two centuries. An important aspect of this is innovation ability and technical risks handling. Another focus is the cultural diversity of technical consumer products and their historical development in globalized trade.
After studying history, political economics and public law in Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main and London, he received a doctorate in history with a minor in political economics. This was followed by postdoctoral posts at TH Darmstadt, the European University Institute in Florence and the Institute of European History in Mainz. He joined TUM in 1989 where he conducts research at the Central Institute for the History of Technology. Professor Wengenroth is a member of the History Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters – Humanistic Class, and the German Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech).
Key Publications
Wengenroth U: “History of Entrepreneurship: Germany after 1815”. in: The invention of enterprise. Entrepreneurship from ancient Mesopotamia to modern times. Eds.: Landes DS, Mokyr J Baumol WJ. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2010; 273-304.
Wengenroth U, Mayntz R, Neidhardt F, Weingart P (Hg.): Wissensproduktion und Wissenstransfer. Wissen im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft, Politik und Öffentlichkeit. Bielefeld: transcript, 2008.
Wengenroth U, Hof H (Hg. ): Innovationsforschung. Ansätze, Methoden, Grenzen und Perspektiven. Hamburg: Lit, 2007; 2. Aufl. 2010.
Wengenroth U: Enterprise and Technology. The German and British Steel Industries 1865-1895. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, Neuauflage 2009.
Wengenroth U (Hg.): Technische Universität München. Annäherungen an ihre Geschichte (Faktum, 1). München: TUM, 1993.