About Alondra Nelson

Acclaimed scholar and writer Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Nelson served as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). As a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a science and technology policy advisor, she has provided guidance to local, state, and federal governments, multilateral and intergovernmental organizations, legislators, civil society, and others.

Including Nelson in the list of Ten People Who Shaped Science, Nature said of her OSTP tenure, “this social scientist made strides for equity, integrity and open access.” In 2023, she was included in the inaugural TIME100 list of the most influential people in artifical intelligence. She is the author of several books, most recently The Social Life of DNA, an award-winning exploration of the social implications of direct-to-consumer genetic technologies.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Dr. Nelson is an elected member of 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