Daniel Asen

Daniel Asen is an Associate Professor and Undergraduate Director in the Department of History at Rutgers University–Newark. He specializes in modern Chinese history, with research interests in the history of science, technology, medicine, and legal history, particularly forensic science in 20th-century China.

Dr. Asen earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2012. His research explores the role of fingerprinting and dermatoglyphics in criminal investigation, state surveillance, and scientific research during the Republican and People's Republic of China eras. He is currently working on a biography of Frank Yee (Yu Xiuhao), an American-trained police expert in Nationalist China.

His publications span history, law, medicine, and science studies, reflecting interdisciplinary engagement with forensic pluralism, identity, race, and biometrics. The articles show a consistent focus on the development of forensic systems in China, the intersection of science and state power, and the global circulation of forensic knowledge. Themes include professionalization of forensic experts, the use of probability in pre-DNA paternity testing, and the racial implications of dermatoglyphic research in postwar East Asia.

• Standard Grant: Fingerprinting in Twentieth Century China from Racial, Political and Scientific Perspectives. NSF Science, Technology, and Society Program Award #1654990 (2017-2021)
• Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Program in China Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013)

Dr. Asen advises undergraduate students in the History major and minor and is actively involved in teaching and public outreach, including a dedicated website for teaching the history of fingerprinting. He has no known graduate advisees listed, but his grants indicate active research leadership. He is not affiliated with a named lab but conducts independent and collaborative historical research.