Alexander Bay

Dr. Alexander Bay is an Associate Professor in the History Department at Chapman University's Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Holding a Ph.D. from Stanford University, he specializes in the history of public health, environmental hygiene, and disease in modern Japan. His research examines intersections between medicine, technology, and societal structures from 1900–1980.

• Education: BA (Lewis & Clark College), MA (University of Oregon), Ph.D. (Stanford University)

Bay's scholarship focuses on digestive-system diseases like beriberi, typhoid, and schistosomiasis, analyzing their connections to military medicine, sanitation technology, and state-building. His 2012 monograph Beriberi in Modern Japan explores how nutritional deficiency became a national medical concern.

Recent publications highlight environmental causation in disease prevention, colonial health practices, and cross-cultural medical exchanges. He has presented at conferences for the Association for Asian Studies, History of Science Society, and East Asian STS. Bay serves as a peer reviewer for East Asian Science, Technology and Society and contributes to interdisciplinary volumes like Kurashi no naka no kenko to shippei (2022).

• Scientific awards: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008–2009), D. Kim Foundation Travel/Research Grant (2012)

His 2019 article Disciplining Shit analyzes toilet modernization as a tool for bodily regulation, while his 2022 work traces schistosomiasis eradication efforts. Current projects examine waste management technologies and their social implications in prewar Japan.