Alondra Nelson
Biography
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Sociology and Science and Technology Studies Ph.D., American Studies, New York University M.Phil., American Studies, New York University B.A., Anthropology, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of California, San Diego |
Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she leads the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab. Past-president and CEO of the Social Science Research Council, she was previously the inaugural Dean of Social Science and Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Nelson began her academic career on the faculty of Yale University and received its Poorvu Award for interdisciplinary teaching excellence.
Nelson was Deputy Assistant to President Biden as well as serving as Principal Deputy Director for Science and Society and performing the duties of the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In recognition of her public service tenure, Nelson was named to Nature’s global list of “Ten People Who Shaped Science.” In 2023, she was named to the TIME100 list of the most influential people in the field of artificial intelligence and appointed to the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on AI.
A distinguished sociologist of science and technology, Nelson is the author of acclaimed books, essays, and articles. Her honors include the MIT Morison Prize, the Sage-CASBS Award from Stanford University for “outstanding achievement in the behavioral and social sciences that advances our understanding of pressing social issues,” and the inaugural Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Social Sciences and Technology, for "pioneering work and outstanding and field-building contributions at the intersection of social sciences and technology" from the Technical University of Munich. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.