Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Robert “Bo” Jacobs

HistorianJapan

Expert
Bo Jacobs

Robert “Bo” Jacobs is an American historian of nuclear technologies and radiation technopolitics. He moved to Japan in 2006 after being hired by the Hiroshima Peace Institute.

Jacobs is currently a professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute and the Graduate School of Peace Studies of Hiroshima City University. His work is devoted to preserving memories of people affected by radiation and studying the colonialism of Cold War nuclear testing.  

Cognizant of perpetuating cycles of colonialist exploitation, Jacobs has sought to find ways to build networks within indigenous communities affected by radiation. Jacobs has organized training sessions to teach young adults from Japan, the Marshall Islands, and other radiation-affected places how to collect oral histories and preserve community memories.

You can listen to an interview with Jacobs here.

Related Profiles

Ruth Howes

Los Alamos, NM

Ruth Howes is professor emerita of physics and astronomy at Ball State University and former chair of the physics department at Marquette University with an interest in the history of women physicists.

Keiko Ogura

Japan

Keiko Ogura is a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor. She was eight years old on August 6, 1945, when the US dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Peter Vandervoort

Chicago, IL

Peter Vandervoort is an American astrophysicist and professor emeritus in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

Michael Joseloff

Michael Joseloff is a four-time Emmy Award-winning TV news and documentary producer. While working as a producer for the MacNeil Lehrer Newshour in 1993, he worked on a program related to alleged Soviet espionage during the Manhattan Project.