Academic Appointments


Administrative Appointments


  • Professor, Stanford (2015 - Present)
  • Director, Program on Urban Studies, Stanford University (2013 - 2019)
  • Visiting Associate Professor, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2012 - 2012)
  • Associate Professor, Stanford University (2008 - 2015)
  • Assistant Professor, Stanford University (2000 - 2008)
  • Lecturer, Illinois State University (1999 - 2000)

Honors & Awards


  • Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, Stanford University (2019)
  • Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (2016-17)
  • Dean's Award, Distinguished Achievements in Teaching, Stanford University (2008)
  • Graves Award, Excellence in Humanities Teaching, administered by Pomona College in conjunction with the ACLS (2008)
  • Conference Prize, Conference on Latin American History (2006)
  • Strugis Leavitt Award, Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (2006)
  • Robertson Prize, Conference ofLatin American History (2005)
  • Office of Technology Licensing Research Initiative Award, Stanford (2001-02)
  • Dissertation Research Fellowship, Fulbright-Hays, Brazil (1997)
  • Graduate College Fellow, University of Illinois (1996)
  • FLAS Title VI Fellowship (Portuguese), University of Illinois (1993-95)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member, Steering Committee, Faculty Senate, Stanford University (2019 - 2020)
  • Elected Member, Faculty Senate, Stanford University (2019 - 2020)
  • Elected Member, Academic Council Advisory Board, Stanford University (2019 - Present)
  • Committee Member, CASBS Fellowship Selection Committee (2017 - Present)
  • Committee Member, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Faculty Advisory Committee (2019 - Present)
  • Founding Director, Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, Stanford University (2012 - 2016)
  • Board Member, Editorial Board, Stanford University Press (2019 - Present)
  • Director, Spatial History Project, Stanford University (2010 - Present)
  • Core participant, Stanford Spatial History Project, funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the Office of the Dean of Humanities and Sciences. (2007 - 2012)
  • Member of selection committee, American Council of Learned Societies, Digital Innovation Fellowship Program (2013 - 2014)
  • Thesis Prize Committee, Centro de Pesquisa em Historia Social da Cultura, UNICAMP, Brazil (2009 - 2009)
  • Organizer, Poverty and Inequality in Latin America, Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University (2006 - 2006)
  • Organizer, Terrain of History, Stanford Humanities Center (2006 - 2006)
  • Affiliated faculty member, Urban Studies Program, Stanford University (2006 - Present)
  • Affiliated faculty member, Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University (2007 - Present)
  • Affiliated faculty member, Woods Institute for the Environment (2009 - 2011)
  • Member of Editorial Board, Cadernos de Historia (academic journal, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
  • Screener, SSRC International Dissertation Research Fellowships (2005 - 2005)
  • Screener, SSRC International Dissertation Research Fellowships (2008 - 2008)
  • Manuscript reviewer, University of New Mexico Press, Yale University Press, and Stanford University Press
  • Article Reviewer, Business History Review, Journal of Latin American Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and Revista de Hist6ria Economica
  • Co-director, with Richard Roberts, Court Records and Humanities," an interactive digital archive project in the Stanford Humanities Laboratory (2003 - Present)
  • Commentator, Hewlett-Brazil Workshop, University of Illinois (2001 - 2001)
  • Commentator, Political Culture in the Andes, a NEH conference held at the University of Illinois (2000 - 2000)
  • Director, Program on Urban Studies (2013 - Present)
  • Chair, Digital Humanities Faculty Search (DLCL & English) (2013 - Present)
  • Director, Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (2012 - Present)
  • Appointed member, ad-hoc committee on online learning, VPOL (2012 - 2013)
  • Appointed member, SUES subcommittee on breadth (2011 - 2012)
  • Appointed member, C-ACIS (2011 - Present)
  • Member, Committee in Charge, Program in Modern Thought and Literature (2011 - Present)
  • Elected member, Faculty Senate, Stanford University (2010 - 2012)
  • Executive Committee member, Urban Studies Program, Stanford University (2010 - Present)
  • Board member, Latin American Studies Center, Stanford University (2006 - Present)
  • Director, Honors Program in History, Department of History, Stanford University (2001 - 2003)
  • Selection Committee, External and Internal Faculty Fellowships, Stanford Humanities Center (2010 - 2010)
  • Selection Committee, Graduate Fellowships, Stanford Humanities Center (2006 - 2006)
  • Book prize committee, AHA-Pacific Coast Branch, 2006-08; Rocky Mountain Conference on Latin American Studies (2006 - 2007)
  • Member, Latin American History search committee, Stanford University (2002 - 2003)
  • Faculty supervisor, Summer Honors College (2002 - 2002)
  • Faculty supervisor, Summer Honors College (2003 - 2003)
  • Faculty supervisor, Summer Honors College (2004 - 2004)
  • Co-director, Empires and Cultures Workshop, Stanford Humanities Center (2001 - 2005)
  • Member, History Department Policy Committee, Stanford University (2002 - 2003)
  • Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2000 - 2002)
  • Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2005 - 2006)
  • Conference organizer, Latin America and Global Trade," Social Science History Institute, Stanford University (2001 - 2001)
  • Secretary, Department of History, Stanford University (2000 - 2001)
  • Graduate Admissions Committee, Latin American Studies Center, Stanford University (2001 - 2001)
  • Graduate Admissions Committee, Latin American Studies Center, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
  • Undergraduate Honors Thesis Advisor for students in History, Latin American Studies, and International Relations
  • Member or chair, doctoral examination committees in History and Political Science
  • Honors Award Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2001 - 2001)
  • Honors Award Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2002 - 2002)
  • Member, Feminist Studies Resource Faculty (2000 - Present)
  • Member, American Historical Association
  • Member, Economic History Association
  • Member, Economic History Society
  • Member, Mexican Economic History Association
  • Member, Brazilian Studies Association
  • Corresponding Member, Instituto Historico e Geognifico de Mato Grosso

Program Affiliations


  • Center for Latin American Studies
  • Modern Thought and Literature

Professional Education


  • Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, History (1999)

Projects


  • Urbanization and its Discontents

    This project, supported by grants from the NSF and Stanford HAI, seeks to understand the complex interaction between urban growth and change in land use in broader urban-rural interfaces. It utilizes remote sensing, GIS, Google Street View, and historical records and data in order to construct models of urban-rural interaction. The project is especially focused on the struggle for land and housing for newly arrived urban dwellers, as well as the pressures and struggles faced by rural, agricultural populations in the face of these processes. Our current regional focus is on these processes as they developed in Latin America between the 1950s and the present. Finally, the project is housed in the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, where it is also supported by the able staff and students affiliated with the Center.

    Location

    Stanford

  • Historical Demography of the Rio das Mortes, Brazil, Federal University of Minas Gerais

    Project seeks to reconstruct the demography of a region in Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the period 1700-1900. Collaboration with scholars at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

    Location

    Brazil

    Collaborators

    • Douglas Libby, Professor, UFMG
  • The Casa dos Contos Project, Stanford

    This project involves collaboration with scholars at UFMG (Belo Horizonte), UFSJDR (S.J. del Rei), and UFF (Niteroi), Brazil. The project seeks to reconstruct the economic and social fabric of 18th-century Minas Gerais through the digitization and analysis of thousands of pages of everyday manuscripts.

    Location

    Stanford

2024-25 Courses


All Publications


  • Ejidos, Urbanization, and the Production of Inequality in Formerly Agricultural Lands, Guadalajara, Mexico, 1975-2020 LAND Barleta, L., Carrillo, M., Frank, Z., Steiner, E. 2020; 9 (12)
  • REGION, NATION, AND SOCIAL SCIENCE: An Interview with Joseph L. Love on 50 Years of Studying Brazil AMERICAS Frank, Z., Goodman, G., Woodard, J. 2019; 76 (1): 137–52
  • Wines of Altitude in the State of Santa Catarina: the signature of an identity TEMPO E ARGUMENTO Nodari, E., Frank, Z. 2019; 11 (26): 183–200
  • Naming Practices in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Brazil: Names, Namesakes, and Families in the Parish of Sao Jose, Minas Gerais JOURNAL OF FAMILY HISTORY Libby, D. C., Frank, Z. 2015; 40 (1): 64-91
  • An historical land conservation analysis in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA: 1850-2010 LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING Santos, M. J., Thorne, J. H., Christensen, J., Frank, Z. 2014; 127: 114-123
  • Review of The Laws of Chance Journal of Social History Chazkel, A. 2013; 47 (1)
  • Entre ricos e pobres o mundo de Antonio Jose Dutra no Rio de Janeiro oitocentista Frank, Z. Sao Paulo: Editora Annablume. 2012
  • Risk, Incentives, and Contracts: Partnerships in Rio de Janeiro, 1870-1891 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY Abramitzky, R., Frank, Z., Mahajan, A. 2010; 70 (3): 686-715
  • The Slave Market in Rio de Janeiro circa 1869: Movement, Context, and Social Experience the Journal of Latin American Geography Frank, Z. 2010; 9 (2)
  • Review of The Forbidden Lands Hispanic American Historical Review Langfur, H. 2010; 90 (3)
  • Returning to the Parish Registers of Colonial Minas Gerais: ethnicity in Sao Jose do Rio das Mortes, 1780-1810 REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE HISTORIA Libby, D. C., Frank, Z. 2009; 29 (58): 383-415
  • Voltando aos registros paroquiais de Minas colonial: etnicidade em Sao Jose do Rio das Mortes, 1780-1810 Revista Brasileira de Historia Frank, Z. 2009; 29 (58): 383-415
  • Exploring International Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration in the Americas Frank, Z. 2008
  • Layers, flows and intersections: Jeronymo Jose de Mello and artisan life in Rio de Janeiro, 1840s-1880s JOURNAL OF SOCIAL HISTORY Frank, Z. 2007; 41 (2): 307-?
  • The Partnership Puzzle: Business Partnerships in Rio de Janeiro, 1870-1891 paper presented to the VonGremp Economic History Workshop, UCLA Frank, Z. 2007
  • Cities and wealth in the South Atlantic: Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro before 1860 COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN SOCIETY AND HISTORY Johnson, L. L., Frank, Z. 2006; 48 (3): 634-668
  • Of Birth and Bondage Working Paper for the Early Modem History Workshop Libby, D. 2006
  • Conclusion: Commodity Chains and Globalization in Historical Perspective From Silver to Cocaine Marichal, C., Topok, S. edited by Marichal, Topik, Frank Duke University Press. 2006: 352–360
  • Stature in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro: Preliminary Evidence from Prison Records Revista de Historia Economica: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History Frank, Z. 2006; 24 (3): 465-490
  • From Silver to Cocaine Latin American Commodity Chains and the Building of the World Economy, 1500-2000 edited by Marichal, C., Topik, S. Durham: Duke University Press. 2006
  • Review of Stringing Together a Nation Hispanic American Historical Review Diacon, T. 2006; 86 (3)
  • Introduction: Commodity Chains in Theory and in Latin American History From Silver to Cocaine Marichal, C., Topok, S. edited by Marichal, Topik, Frank Duke University Press. 2006: 1–24
  • Brazil in the International Rubber Trade, 1870-1930 From Silver to Cocaine Musacchio, A. edited by Marichal, Topik, Frank Duke University Press. 2006: 271–299
  • Review of Native Capital: Financial Institutions and Economic Development in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1850-1920 Business History Review Hanley, A. 2006; 80 (3)
  • Rentiers and Renters: The Urban Property Market in Rio de Janeiro Poverty and inequality in Latin America Frank, Z. 2006
  • Exploring parish registers in colonial Minas Gerais, Brazil: Ethnicity in Sao Jose do Rio das Mortes, 1780-1810 COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Libby, D., Frank, Z. 2005; 14 (3): 213-244
  • Wealth holding in southeastern Brazil, 1815-60 HAHR-HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Frank, Z. 2005; 85 (2): 223-257
  • Wealth Holding in Southeastern Brazil Hispanic American Historical Review Frank, Z. 2005; 85 (2): 221-255
  • Dutra's World Wealth and Family in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro Frank, Z. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 2004
  • Review of Within Her Power: Propertied Women in Colonial Virginia The Journal of Economic History Sturtz, L. L. 2003; 63 (3)
  • Review of Labour Relations and Industrial Performance in Brazil: Greater Sao Paulo, 1945-60 The Journal of Economic History Colistete, R. 2002; 62 (2)
  • The International Natural Rubber Market, 1870-1930 Frank, Z., Musacchio, A. edited by Whaples, R. 2002
  • Review of The Many and the Few Journal of Interdisciplinary History Sabato, H. 2002; 33 (4)
  • Exports and inequality: Evidence from the Brazilian frontier, 1870-1937 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY Frank, Z. L. 2001; 61 (1): 37-58
  • Review of Banking and Economic Development: Brazil 1889-1930 The Journal of Economic History Triner, G. 2001; 61 (4)
  • Elite families and oligarchic politics on the Brazilian frontier: Mato Grosso, 1889-1937 LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH REVIEW Frank, Z. L. 2001; 36 (1): 49-74