Diana J. Montaño is an Associate Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis, where she also serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in History. She earned her PhD from the University of Arizona and specializes in Latin American history with particular focus on technology's relationship to nationalism, everyday life and domesticity. Her research interests include: History of Technology in Latin America Urban History of Mexico History of Electricity and Energy Material Culture in Modern Latin America History of Science and Technology in Latin America Everyday Life and Domesticity in Modern Mexico Prof. Montaño is the author of the award-winning book Electrifying Mexico: Technology and the Transformation of a Modern City , which examines how Mexico City residents shaped electrification from the 1880s to the 1960s. Her work explores how ordinary citizens used electricity symbolically and physically in constructing a modern nation. She is currently researching her second book project, 'Necaxa and the Engineering of a Mexican Energy Landscape,' which investigates transnational networks involved in constructing the Necaxa hydroelectric complex. Her scholarly contributions have received numerous prestigious awards including the Bolton-Johnson Prize, the Turriano Prize, the Urban History Association prize, and the Alfred B. Thomas Award. Her article 'Ladrones de Luz' has also been recognized with multiple prizes including the CALACS Article Prize and the Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize. Prof. Montaño is actively engaged in the academic community as co-editor of the University of Nebraska Press' book series Confluencias on Mexican history and convenes the Working Group: History of Science, Technology & Medicine in Latin America. She also coordinates the edited volume Latin American Technocultural Worlds: Histories of Design, Aesthetics, and Practice with colleagues from other institutions, which challenges conventional understandings of Latin Americans' technological lives by highlighting how innovation, craftsmanship, and adaptation have been constants of everyday life in the region.
