Donald B. Wagner
24 December 2017
Born 1943 in Canada; grew up in the United States, and moved to Denmark in 1968. Danish citizen 14 September 1999. Married Annie Winther, 4 June 1981.
B.Sc. degree in Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., June 1965.
Began studies in Chinese at the University of Copenhagen, September 1968.
Research student (kenshuin), Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyusho), Kyoto University, April 1972 – March 1974.
Cand.mag. (candidatus magisterii) degree with Chinese as major subject and Mathematics as minor subject, University of Copenhagen, 1 March 1976. Thesis title: “Proof in ancient Chinese mathematics: Liu Hui on the volumes of rectilinear solids”.
Studies in Metallurgy at the Department of Metallurgy, Technical University of Denmark, 1981–2.
Ph.D. degree granted on the basis of nine previous publications by The Faculty of Arts, University of Copenhagen, 30 November 1990.
Dr.phil. degree, University of Copenhagen, 28 May 1993. This degree is equivalent to the German Habilitation or the French Doctorat d'Etat.
Visiting Scholar, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley, May 1982 – April 1983.
Fellow Commoner, Churchill College, Cambridge, Michaelmas and Lent terms 1990–91.
Visiting Associate, Darwin College, Cambridge, April – September 1991, October 1993 – September 1994.
Awarded the Arthur P. Christensen Prize for Orientalists by the University of Copenhagen, 1 July 1994.
Member of the editorial committee for East Asian science, technology and medicine (formerly Chinese science), from 1993.
Member of the editorial committee for Centaurus, from 1999.
Member of the editorial committee for Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, from 2001.
Senior Research Fellow, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2001–2003.
Associate Senior Research Fellow, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, from 2003.
Honorary Associate, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge, from 2003.
Computer systems programmer, Division of Sponsored Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, August 1965 – December 1967; A/S Regnecentralen, Copenhagen, Denmark, January 1968 – December 1970.
Canada Council Doctoral Fellow, April 1971 – March 1975.
Research Fellow, Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, 1 April 1976 – 30 June 1978, 1 October 1978 – 30 June 1980, 1–31 October 1980. Responsible for the compilation of the Union catalogue of East Asian materials in Scandinavian libraries.
Participant in “Project for the Study of Chinese Archaeological Material”, Stanford University, during the lifetime of the project, July 1980 – June 1983.
Research Fellow, Danish Research Council for the Humanities, 1 February 1982 – 31 January 1985.
Research Fellow, The Carlsberg Foundation, 1 February 1985 – 31 January 1986.
Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1 February 1986 – 31 January 1989.
Carlsberg Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1 February 1989 – 31 January 1990.
Taught “Advanced Classical Chinese” at the East Asian Institute, University of Copenhagen, under the above-mentioned research fellowships from 1986 to 1990.
Co-organizer of the Scandinavian Summer Course on Research Methods in Pre-Modern Chinese History, Oslo, Norway, 19–27 June 1990.
Research Fellow under the Julie von Müllen Foundation, working at the Needham Research Institute, Cambridge, 1 September 1990 – 31 August 1991.
Free-lance consulting assignments, Oslo University Library, Cambridge University Press, and Macmillan Publishers.
Hourly-paid teaching in “Chinese archaeology”, East Asian Institute, University of Copenhagen, September 1992 – May 1993.
Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1 April – 30 June, 1 August – 30 September 1993.
Teacher of “Introduction to Chinese civilisation” at University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) Summer School, 5–27 July 1993.
Visiting Professor (Dozent), Study Group for the History and Philosophy of Chinese Science and Technology of the Technical University of Berlin, 1 October 1993 – 28 February 1994. Resident in Cambridge during this period, working at the Needham Research Institute and visiting Berlin in five two-week periods.
Senior Research Fellow, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge, 1 March 1994 – 1 September 1996.
External Lecturer, Department of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen, from 1 February 1997.
Visiting Professor (Dozent), Study Group for the History and Philosophy of Chinese Science and Technology of the Technical University of Berlin, 1 October 1997 – 31 March 1998.
Acting Senior Lecturer (lektorvikar), Department of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen, 1 August 1998 – 31 July 2000.
External Lecturer, Department of Asian Studies, University of
Copenhagen, 1 September 2000 – 30 June 2001 and 1 February –
30 June 2002.
Guest
lecturer (unpaid), Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen,
September 2008 – June 2009.
Visiting
Professor, Department of Archaeology, Sichuan University,
Chengdu, Sichuan, one month per year, 2013–2016.
Member
of the Board of External Examiners (censorkollegiet)
for Chinese, University of Copenhagen and University of
Aarhus, from 1 January 2017.