Louise Nelson Dyble CV, 1
LOUISE NELSON DYBLE, PhD
Curriculum Vitae
(510) 759-3916
Louise Nelson Dyble CV, 1
Education
Ph. D., History, University of California, Berkeley, 2003. Dissertation: “Paying the Toll: A
Political History of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, 1923-1971.” Urban History Association Award for Best Dissertation.
Areas of Expertise: United States Urban/Suburban History, Political and Policy History, History of City and Regional Planning, Environmental History and the Built Environment, History of Technology, Business/Government Relations.
Dissertation Committee: Robin L. Einhorn (chair); Kerwin Klein; Richard A. Walker (Geography); Sally K. Fairfax (Environmental Science, Policy and Management).
M.A., History, University of California, Berkeley 1999.
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1995. Magna Cum Laude. Major: History.
APPOINTMENTS
CurrentAssistant Professor of History, Department of Social Sciences, Michigan
Technological University, Houghton MI
2007-2009Associate Director for Research, Keston Institute for Public Finance and
Infrastructure Policy, School of Planning, Policy and Development, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
2006-2007Weisman Fellow, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA
2005-2006Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Martin’s University, Lacey WA
2003-2005Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley. Henry J. Vaux Fellow (2003-2004); Kevin Starr Fellow in California Studies (2004-2005)
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
Book
Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Inaugural volume
of the Series on American Business, Politics, and Society. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. Abel Wolman Award for Best New Book in the Field of Public Works History, 2010.
Articles
“Tolls and Control: the Chicago Skyway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike,” for a special issue on
highway policy in the post-Interstate era, edited by Mark H. Rose and Raymond A. Mohl, Journal of Planning History, forthcoming 2011.
“From Internal Improvements to Public Works to Infrastructure: the Public/Private Dichotomy
in Historical Perspective,” Public Works Policy and Management, October 2010.
“The Continuing Saga of Zoning in America,”Review essay, Journal of Planning History, May
2010.
“Reconstructing Transportation: Linking Tolls and Transit for Place-Based Mobility,”
Technology & Culture, July 2009.
“The Defeat of the Golden Gate Authority: the Beginning of the End of Regional Planning
in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Journal of Urban History, January 2008.
“Revolt Against Sprawl: Transportation and the Origins of the Marin County Growth Control
Regime.” Journal of Urban History, November 2007. Michael C. Robinson Award for best essay or article in public works history.
Book Chapter
“Landmark of Death: Regionalism and the Question of a Suicide Barrier for the
Golden Gate Bridge,” chapter in Volker Janssen, ed., Where Minds and Matters Meet: Technology in California and the West, sponsored by the Institute for California and the West. University of California Press, forthcoming 2011.
In Development
Innovation or Indulgence? The Quest for a Just Food System, co-authored withSally K. Fairfax,
Greig Tor Guthey, Lauren Gwin, Jennifer Sokolove, and Monica Moore. MIT Press,
forthcoming 2012.
Paying for Pavement: Highways and the Transformation of American Government,
A book exploring the changing political economy of transportation infrastructure and the changing role of government in the United States from the 1920s to the present.
Professional Reports
Rebuilding California Government, Rebuilding California: Implications of a Constitutional
Convention for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy. Report, Keston Institute for Public Financing and Infrastructure Policy, March 2009.
The California Environmental Quality Act and Prospects for a Special State-Level Environmental
Court. Report, Keston Institute for Public Financing and Infrastructure Policy, July, 2008.
The Proposed California Transportation Finance Authority: An Analysis. Report, Keston
Institute for Public Financing and Infrastructure Policy, May, 2008.
User Fees and the Future of Transportation Finance: Past and Present Models for
Linking Tolls with Transit in California. Working paper, Keston Institute for Public
Financing and Infrastructure Policy, April, 2008.
Options and Opportunities: New Management Paradigms for Balboa Park [San Diego, CA].
With Richard G. Little and Tamara Gishri. Report prepared for the Legler Benbough Foundation. Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Nov. 2007.
North of the Golden Gate: A Historical Perspective on Land Use Policy in Marin and Sonoma
Counties. Report prepared for the UC Berkeley NRI Research Group on Land Use Policy and Natural Resources in Northern California, University of California, Berkeley, 2001.
Reviews
Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and its Surroundings. A. N. Penna and C.
E. Wright, eds. (Pittsburgh, 2009). For Public Works Management and Policy, January 2011.
Reforming Suburbia: The Planned Communities of Irvine, Columbia, and The Woodlands, by Ann
Forsyth (Berkeley, 2005). For Journal of San Diego History, Spring 2010.
No There There: Race, Class and Political Community in Oakland, by Chris Rhomberg (Berkeley,
2007). For Journal of the West, Winter 2008.
Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles, William Deverall and
Greg Hise, eds. (Pittsburgh, 2005). For Journal of the West, Fall 2007.
New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park, by Amy Meyer
(Berkeley, 2006). For Journal of the West, Summer 2007.
Road, River and Ol’ Boy Politics: A Texas County’s Path from Farm to Supersuburb, by Linda
Scarbrough (Austin, 2005). For Journal of the West, Winter 2006.
“Subsidizing Suburbanization through Highway Policy.” Review of 20th Century Sprawl:
Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape , by Owen Gutfreund (New York,
2004). For H-Urban Book Reviews, Dec. 2005.
California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown, by Ethan Rarick (Berkeley, 2005). For
Journal of the West, Dec. 2005.
Building San Francisco’s Parks, by Terrence Young (Baltimore, 2004). For H-California Book
Reviews, March 2005.
Selling Places: The Marketing and Promotion of Towns and Cities, 1850-2000, by Stephen V.
Ward (New York, 1998). For Enterprise & Society, March 2000.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Urban and Regional Planning,” Katherine Brosnan, ed., The Encyclopedia of American
Environmental History, Facts on File, forthcoming June 2010.
“Bridges,” and “Othmar H. Ammann,” in David Staley, ed., Discovery and Invention: A Historical
Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Society, M. E. Sharpe, forthcoming 2010.
“Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge,” “Loma Prieta Earthquake,” “Collapse of
the St. Francis Dam,” and “Explosion of the Steamboat Moselle,” in Ballard
Campbell, ed., Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History: A Guide to the Nation’s Most Catastrophic Events, Facts on File, 2008.
“Home Rule,” “Congestion,” and “Special Assessments” in David Goldfield, ed., The
Encyclopedia of American Urban History, SAGE Publications, 2006.
Popular Media
Editorial, “Tales of Toll Booth Trauma: Relics of An Era at its End?” Huffington Post, Feb. 25,
2010.
Editorial, “The Price of Metro’s ‘Tax Advantage Leases,” Huffington Post, July 5, 2009.
Editorial, “Bridgeing the Transportation Gap,” Huffington Post, April 10, 2009.
Letter to the editor, “Don’t abandon gas taxes—adjust them for inflation,” Christian Science
Monitor, March 9, 2009.
Feature Interview with Jonathan Rowe, “American Offline: The Marin Freeway Revolt,” West
Marin Community Radio, KWMR, September 11, 2007.
Editorial, “Whitewashing the Blood-Stained Span,” Marin Independent Journal, May 26, 2007.
Interview with Heather Ishimaru for “Golden Gate Bridge Celebrates 70 Year Anniversary,”
abc 7, KGO-TV, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, May 28, 2007.
Consultant for documentary film, “American Experience: The Golden Gate Bridge,” directed by
Ben Loeterman, 2004.
Blog: “Paying the Toll” Observations on Infrastructure, Transportation, and Finance,” since
2008:
SPEAKING AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Invited Lectures
“A Century of Turnpike History, 1953-2053,” Lecture for the Urban History Seminar of the Chicago
History Museum, January 27, 2011.
“Public-Private Partnerships in Historical Perspective,” Lecture for Civil and Environmental
Engineering Professional Practice, Michigan Technological University, November 12, 2009.
“Authorities and Multi-Modalism: History and Prospects,” Lecture for the Civic and Environmental
Engineering Department Seminar, Michigan Technological University, October 22, 2009.
“Structural Shadows: Golden Gate Suicide and the Institutions of Regionalism in Metropolitan
America,” Keynote Address, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Urban Studies Program Fall Social, September 24, 2009.
“T.J. Kent and the Era of Little Plans: Home Rule and Regional Planning in the San Francisco Bay
Area,” California Studies Association Dinner, Berkeley, CA, May 21, 2009.
“Structural Shadows, or, Why is there no suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge?” Institute
for California and the West, In Conversation Series, April 23, 2009, the Huntington Library, Pasadena, CA.
“The Golden Gate Bridge and Regional Government in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Institute
for California and the West, In Conversation Series, Nov. 29, 2007, University of Southern California.
“Landmark of Death: Organizational Culture and the Question of a Suicide Barrier on the
Golden Gate Bridge,” California Studies Association Dinner, Berkeley, CA,
Nov. 14, 2007.
“Direct Marketing and Agricultural Land Preservation,” Oct. 11, 2004. For “MBA Level
Marketing Management,” Prof. Leslie A. Goldgehn, University of San Francisco.
“The New Deal and Public Works” Nov. 14, 2002. For “United States Social History,”
Dr. Charles Postel, UC Berkeley.
“The Rise of the Automobile: Technology, Politics, and the Shaping of the American Landscape,
1920-1970” Aug. 5, 2002. For “United States History, 1877-2000,” Dr. Charles Postel,
UC Berkeley.
“Oysters, Dairies, and Open Space: the Politics of Tomales Bay in Historical Perspective,” Feb.
27, 2002. For “Case Studies in Environmental Policy” Prof. Sally Fairfax, UC Berkeley.
“The History of Land Use in Marin,” April 11, 2001. For “Case Studies in Environmental Policy
and Management,” Prof. Fairfax, UC Berkeley.
“Beautiful Marin County: Land Use and the Politics of Planning North of the Golden Gate.”
Featured speaker, California Studies Association Dinner, Berkeley, Nov. 2001.
Conference Presentations
“Toll Road Privatization in the Neoliberal Age: Chicago and Pennsylvania,” Policy History
Conference, Columbus Ohio, June 4, 2010.
“Toll Roads in the Age of Global Capital: the Chicago Skyway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike,”
Conference of the Urban Affairs Association, Honolulu, March 12, 2010.
“T.J. Kent and Bay Area Regionalism,” Panel on Telesis, Conference of the Society for City and
Regional Planning History, Oakland, CA October 16, 2009.
“Highways and Bridges, Real and Imagined: the History of Bay Area Transportation
Infrastructure,” North Bay Planning History Tour, sponsored by the Society for City and Regional Planning History, October 18, 2009.
“Institutions, Technology and Golden Gate Bridge Suicide,” for Where Minds and Matters Meet:
Workshop on Technology in California and the West, The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, April 25, 2009.
“California’s Exceptional Farmers’ Markets: A Story of Regulation and Its Consequences,”
Business History Conference, April 11-12, Sacramento CA, 2008.
Panelist, “Infrastructure: Keeping the Empire’s Economic Engine Running,” Inland Empire Real
Estate Conference, Ontario, CA, Sept. 6, 2007.
“Landmark of Death: Purpose, Meaning, and Policy at the Golden Gate Bridge,” Conference of
the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, Honolulu, July 2007.
Discussant and organizer, “Transportation History” session, World Conference on
Transportation Research, hosted by the University of California Transportation
Center, Berkeley, CA, June 26, 2009.
“California’s Exceptional Farmers’ Markets: A Political and Institutional History,” Agricultural
History Society Annual Meeting, Ames Iowa, June 23, 2007.
Panelist, “The Freeway Revolt Era: Lessons from San Francisco and other Cities
in the 1960s and 1970s” Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Francisco, April 21, 2007.
“Revolt Against Sprawl: Freeways and the Origins of the Marin County Growth-Control
Regime.” Conference of the Organization of American Historians, Washington D.C.,2006.
“The Metamorphosis of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District.” Policy History
Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, May 2004.
“The Marin Countywide Plan: Beauty, Nature, and Power on the Urban Fringe.” Conference of
the American Society for Environmental History, Victoria, B.C, April 2004.
“Roads as a Political Weapon: Freeways and the Defeat of Suburbanization in Marin County,
California.” Conference on Landscapes and Roads in North America and Europe:
Cultural History in Transatlantic Perspective, Washington, D.C., Oct. 2002.
“The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District: A Case Study in Special Districts and
Metropolitan Governance.” First Biennial Urban History Conference, sponsored by the
Urban History Association, Pittsburgh, PA, Nov. 2002.
“The Defeat of the Golden Gate Authority: the Beginning of the End of Regional Planning in the
San Francisco Bay Area.” Conference of the Society for American City and Regional
Planning History, Philadelphia, Nov. 2001.
Teaching
Building America: The History of Planning, Development, and Engineering in the United States.
Michigan Technological University upper division seminar, Spring 2010 and 2011.
Modern America, 1945-present. Michigan Technological University upper division seminar,
Spring 2010 and 2011.
The American Experience. Michigan Technological University lower-division American history
survey, from the Revolution to the Progressive Era. Fall 2010.
The History of Planning and Development. University of Southern California School of
Planning, Policy and Development upper-division lecture course, Fall 2008.
Transportation Revolutions in American History. California Institute of Technology freshman
seminar, Winter 2007.
U. S. Urban Politics and the Local State from the Progressive Era to the Present. California
Institute of Technology upper-division seminar, Fall 2006.
American Environmental History. St. Martin’s University upper-division seminar, Spring 2006.
Nineteenth Century America: Politics and Society. St. Martin’s University upper-division
seminar, Spring 2006.
United States History, 1877-present. St. Martin’s University lower-division survey, Spring 2006.
From Railroads to Automobiles: Politics, Development, and Transportation in United States
History. UC Berkeley upper-division seminar, Fall 2000.
San Francisco Politics, 1850-1950. UC Berkeley senior research seminar, Spring 1999.
United States History Survey. Co-taught with Charles Postel. San Quentin State Prison Associate
of Arts Program, Patten College, Spring 1999.
American Government and Politics. San Quentin State Prison Associate of Arts Program, Patten
College, Spring 1998.
United States History from the Colonial Period to the Civil War. Instructor with Prof. Robin Einhorn, UC Berkeley upper-division lecture and seminar, Spring 1998.
United States History from the Civil War to the Present. Instructor with Dr. Eyal Naveh, UC
Berkeley lower-division lecture and seminar, Summer 1998.
The Forging of America, 1492-1904. Instructor with Dr. Steve Leikin, UC Berkeley lower-
division lecture and seminar, Fall 1996.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE
Board of Directors, Society for American City and Regional Planning History, Sept. 2009-
Present; Conference organizing committee and tour organizer, 2009.
Board of Trustees, Public Works Historical Society, July 2009-present. Conference organizing
Committee, 2010.
Editorial Board, Transfers, 2010-present.
Board of Directors, Urban History Association, January 2008-January 2011.
California Studies Association Steering Committee, September 2007-2009, Chair 2008-2009,
Organizing Committee for 2008 Conference, “Changing Climates: Class, Culture and Politics in an Era of Global Warming,” Berkeley, CA, March 12-13, 2008.
Kenneth Jackson Award Committee (best book), Urban History Association, 2008.
Emerging Scholars Committee, Business History Conference, Sacramento CA, March 11, 2008.
Conference Organizer, “Paying for Tomorrow’s Infrastructure: Options and Strategies for
Sustainable Financing,” hosted by the Keston Institute for Public Finance and
Infrastructure Policy, Sacramento CA, March 6, 2008.
Associate of the Regional Oral History Office of The Bancroft Library, 2003-2006. Oral
History Series: “San Francisco Bay Area Farmers’ Markets.” Conducting and producing
interviews for the California Food and Wine Collection.
Consultant to the California Certified Farmers’ Market Advisory Board, 2003-2005. Provided
data analysis of a comprehensive survey of producers, managers and agricultural
commissioners for the Long Range Planning Subcommittee.
Founder and Organizer, UC Berkeley Interdisciplinary Working Group on Transportation
Politics and Technology, 2000-2003. Funding from the University of California
Transportation Center and the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities.
Organizing Committee for the California Studies Association Conference, Berkeley, CA, 1999.
FELLOWSHIPS AND FUNDING
Michigan Technological Univerisity Research Excellence Fund Award, 2010-2011
Urban Affairs Association, Conference Travel Grant, 2010
Smith Richardson Foundation Domestic Public Policy Fellowship, 2008-2009
Kevin Starr Fellowship, University of California Humanities Research Institute, 2003-2004
Margaret Byrne Fellowship, Department of History, UC Berkeley, 2002-2003
University of California Transportation Center Dissertation Fellowship, 2000-2001
Mellon Dissertation Prospectus Grant, 1997
Heller/BoltonFellowship in the History of the Americas, 1995
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship, the Herder Institute, Leipzig, 1994