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Historian of science and longtime professor Mahoney GS '67 dies
Published: Friday, July 25th, 2008
Michael Mahoney GS ’67, a dedicated professor of the history of science who spent 40 years at the University, died Wednesday, July 23, at the University Medical Center at Princeton. Mahoney was unable to recover after suffering cardiac arrest during ...
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Professor Mahoney embodied what every student hoped for in a professor. He was talented as a teacher, and more importantly, gifted as a mentor. He is a loss to the University, and my prayers go out to his family.
I knew Mike Mahoney from two of his graduate seminars, which he conducted in what I think was his signature style: no-nonsense, discussion-friendly, and information-rich. In addition to his talent as a teacher and his wide-ranging knowledge of fields from the Renaissance to computer technology, he was a great repository of institutional memory: on any Princeton-related question you could name, Mike had a story from decades ago that would illuminate and entertain. This is a great loss for the university, and I hope that his loved ones know how many of our lives were touched and improved by him.
I had Professor Mahoney in 1977. His course to this date of all the courses I took at the University remains among the top three. And it gave me so many amazing facts I can pull out at any time. That the Arabs invented thes stirrup. What a kind man he was. So sorry for his wife and children.
I was in the history of science program. Mike was a young faculty member, an assistant professor in a department with some rather famous senior faculty. He loved his job; he loved teaching; he loved talking to undergraduate and graduate students. I remember sitting in his office and speculating about the underpinnings of the industrial revolution. He had all of the time in the world to visit, even though I was not one of his student advisees. My kids are now students at Princeton, and I had been meaning to stop by and visit Mike---because I had such fond memories. I feel terrible that I did not have the chance. I want to convey my sincere condolences to his family and the Princeton community.
The tributes to Mike Mahoney should obviously be the bulk of this article, but shouldn't there also have been some information about how the incident was handled by the lifeguards, others in the pool, Dillon staff, etc.? What was the response time, how was it handled, why wasn't it reported by the Prince for so long?
I had Professor Mahoney for history of technology, and he made lectures on everything from windmills to Ford's car factory seem interesting and relevant to our modern age of computers. He would always bring in gadgets like a steam engine; definitely was one of the best lecturers/seminar instructurs I had at Princeton, and despite his being a veteran professor always was up to date with computers and powerpoint!
Professor Mahoney's History 211 (taken my freshman year) was a course that really made me fall in love with Princeton. His lectures were true gems that gave me such an appreciation for history. A principle theme of the course was that of voyage and discovery, and I hope the Mahoney family will find some comfort in knowing that his earthly journey was one that touched many lives.
Decades ago, I was a doctoral student in the department of religion and asked Professor Mahoney's permission to audit his undergraduate history of modern science course--the exact name of which I now forget. Soon enough, I was meeting with him almost weekly to discuss issues from the course. He was one of the best teachers I ever encountered, either at Princeton or as an undergrad at Wesleyan. He was so willing to let me, who knew nothing about his subject, suggest ideas from what I did know, which was the history of religion. He helped see all kinds of links that I'd never have worked out on my own. And he was always so giving of his time. I am so saddened by the news of his death. He was a wonderful person.
Robert Segal *84
When I first met Mike Mahoney, I had just finished my PhD in 2006 and had been looking with awe to his works among others his 2000 stuff of structures of computation. I was expecting to meet someone looking down on me. Instead I found a greatly welcoming lad - if no so young - of Irish origins who listened to my many unformulated research questions, suggested ideas for furthering research longside the topic, and with whom we laughed at the irony of the mention of the Green card 'not to be an identity documentation'. Thanks for the welcome.