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

Chester W. Nimitz

Japan

Chester W. Nimitz (1885-1966) was Fleet Admiral of the US Navy and Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet during World War II.

Emperor Hirohito

Japan

Hirohito (1901-1989), known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa, was emperor of Japan during World War II and is Japan’s longest-serving monarch in history.

Robert Serber

Los Alamos, NM

Robert Serber (1909-1997) was an American physicist. He was recruited by J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the Manhattan Project.

Curtiss Brennan

Santa Fe, NM

Curtiss Brennan is an American archaeologist who received his PhD in 1978. In the 1970s, he and his wife, Mary, moved next door to Dorothy McKibbin, striking up a friendship with her and eventually becoming the owners of her home when she passed away.