Jeff Meikle is a professor of American Studies and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches about design, architecture, and technology in the U.S. He has been chairman of the Department of American Studies since 1996.

American Plastic: A Cultural History, his most recent book, was awarded the Dexter Prize by the Society for the History of Technology. Click here for more information on the book from Amazon.com. (link this sentence to: (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813522358/qid=913220004/sr=1-2/002-1 606001-1840862) He is also the author of Twentieth Century Limited: Industrial Design in America, 1925-l939 and a co-author of Donald Deskey: Decorative Designs and Interiors.

When he's not rummaging through flea markets and junk stores looking for plastic collectibles, he is an amateur photographer and likes to travel. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Würzburg, Germany, and at the University of London, and has also lectured in Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Switzerland.

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