Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, an independent research center in Princeton, New Jersey. She is a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Nelson was formerly deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and acting director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In this role, she advised on science, technology, and innovation in domestic and international affairs. Nelson also drove Biden-Harris administration strategy to deploy science and technology to expand economic opportunity, advance equity, and ensure that innovation works for, not against, our democratic values. She led the development of the landmark Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which lays practical groundwork for how policymakers, developers, entrepreneurs, legislators, civil society, and others can mitigate risks and safeguard people’s rights and access to opportunities as algorithms and automated systems reach further into our lives. In recognition of her OSTP tenure, Nature named Nelson to its international list of “Ten People Who Shaped Science in 2022.”

She was the 14th president and CEO of the Social Science Research Council, an international research nonprofit. Previously, Nelson served on the faculty of Columbia University, where she was the inaugural Dean of Social Science. She began her academic career on the faculty of Yale University, and there was recognized with the Poorvu Prize for interdisciplinary teaching excellence.

Prior to her White House service, Nelson was co-chair of the National Academies of Medicine Committee on Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation and was a member of the National Academy of Science, Medicine and Engineering’s Committee on Responsible Computing Research.

An acclaimed scholar of science, technology, medicine, and social inequality, Nelson is the author of several award-winning books, including, most recently, The Social Life of DNA. Her essays, reviews, and commentary have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, and Science.