Alondra Nelson

Alondra Nelson is a scholar of science, technology, and society and the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She is also a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Dr. Nelson served as Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), becoming the first African American and first woman of color to lead U.S. science and technology policy. At OSTP, she led the creation of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, expanded taxpayer access to federally funded research, contributed as an inaugural member of the Biden Cancer Cabinet, and advanced equity and excellence in STEM. Nature recognized her as one of “Ten People Who Shaped Science in 2022,” noting her strides in equity, integrity, and open access. In 2023, she was named to the inaugural TIME100 list of the most influential people in AI, and she currently serves on the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence.

Nelson was the 14th president and CEO of the Social Science Research Council and the inaugural Dean of Social Science at Columbia University. She began her academic career at Yale University, earning the Poorvu Prize for interdisciplinary teaching excellence. Her award-winning books include The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome, Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination, Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History, and Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life.