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ABOUT

Rachel Steely is a historian and writer specializing in the history of commodities. She received a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University for her work on the global proliferation of soybean cultivation and use. 

 

Steely mentors high school students on topics in the history of capitalism and the political economy of food systems with Hugo Mentors.

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She is also a runner, competing with Liberty Athletic Club and coaching with Girls on the Run.

Steely headshot 2022.jpeg

Education

PhD       Harvard University

History

Researched commodity frontiers in the history of global capitalism. Won numerous competitive research grants and awards for teaching. Presented research findings at conferences around the world. Taught courses on the history of capitalism, historical research and writing methods, and the history of U.S. international relations. Advised senior theses at Harvard College.

MA

Purdue University

History

Researched the history of U.S. international relations. Won the college of Liberal Arts Distinguished Master's Thesis Award. Teaching Assistant for courses on the U.S. in the World, Modern Latin American History, and Global History.

Selected Grants & Awards

2023
Gilbert C. Fite Dissertation Award, Agricultural History Society
Best dissertation on agricultural history.
2021
2021
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Graduate Associate Research Grant
Derek Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University
2018
2015
2020
Othmer Library of Chemical History Travel Grant
2020
Rockefeller Archive Center Grant-in-Aid
2020
Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Travel Fellowship, Harvard Business School
2018
Thomas Cochran Dissertation Fellowship in Economic and Business History
2017
John H. Coatsworth Latin American History Fellowship
2017
State Historical Society of Iowa Research Grantdeclined
2017
Center for American Political Studies Seed Grant, Harvard University
2017
Lawrence Gelfand-Armin Rappaport-Walter Lafeber Dissertation Fellowship,
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
2017
Jorge Paulo Lemann Fellowship
2013

College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Master's Thesis Award, Purdue University

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